Pendrith holds share of 2nd at Wichita Open
WICHITA, Kansas – Jared Wolfe carded a 5-under 65 on Saturday to claim the 54-hole lead at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth at 17-under 193. Taylor Montgomery and Taylor Pendrith sit three strokes off the lead at 14-under 196 after three rounds.
Wolfe, who began the day one stroke off the lead, used a birdie-eagle-birdie start to gain the lead after his first three holes on a windy day at Crestview Country Club. After a bogey on the par-4 fourth, he settled into the round with four consecutive pars. The Murray State University product tallied his third birdie of the day on No. 9 to make the turn at 16-under.
On the back nine, Wolfe converted another birdie on the par-4 11th to reach 17-under. After dropping a shot on the par-5 14th, the 32-year-old rebounded with a birdie on No. 15 to get back to 17-under for the week. After a birdie on the par-3 17th, he stumbled with a bogey on the par-4 18th to finish the third round three strokes clear of the field.
“I got off to a dream start,” Wolfe said after the round. “I just kind of kept things going with some good par saves. It was a good day.”
Earlier this season, Wolfe captured his first Korn Ferry Tour title at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at Baha Mar. Entering the final round in the Bahamas, Wolfe held the 54-hole lead and went on to secure the victory. Once again, he has the 54-hole lead and his second Korn Ferry Tour title within reach.
“It always helps,” he said of his win earlier this season. “Thankfully, that’s kind of the way most of the wins I’ve had have been. I know my game right now and I know it’s solid. If I play my game, I feel like things should go well.”
In 17 starts this season, Wolfe has made 13 cuts with four top-10s and entered the week ranked 15th in The 25. With a victory tomorrow, he would join Davis Riley as the only two-time winners on the Korn Ferry Tour this season.
“That’d be awesome (to win again),” he said. “I feel like this year has been the best year that I’ve had. I want to cash in on how I feel like I’ve been playing this year.”
Montgomery carded a 5-under 65 on Saturday to claim a share of second place after 54-holes. Like Wolfe, Montgomery played his first three holes 4-under to start his round. After making the turn at 12-under for the week, he tallied two birdies on his back nine to reach 14-under for the tournament.
In his first full season on Tour, Montgomery has made eight cuts in 15 starts highlighted by two top-10s. Earlier this season, he finished solo-third at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and T2 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The 25-year-old entered the week ranked 32nd in The 25 and in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title.
Pendrith, who began the day one stroke clear of the field, carded four birdies against three bogeys on Saturday to reach 14-under after three rounds.
Pendrith, who entered the week ranked third on The 25, is still in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title. In 18 starts this year, the 29-year-old has made 16 cuts highlighted by three runner-up finishes.
Final-round tee times will run from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. on Sunday with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10.
Hughes in solo 3rd heading into finale in Punta Cana
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Adam Long went from trying to hit a fairway to a course so open it’s hard to miss. He went from grinding over pars to pouring in birdies.
One week after he toiled to a tie for 13th at Winged Foot in the U.S. Open, Long is loving life in the Caribbean.
Long ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch to grab the lead and finished with key par saves for an 8-under 64 that give him a two-shot lead over Hudson Swafford in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.
“Big contrast from the U.S. Open to here, obviously,” Long said. “That was just such a mental grind. It was just trying to hit a fairway. You’re probably going to miss it and then you try to get it up on the green and try to make pars. Here, it’s a lot different landscape. It seems really wide open coming from Winged Foot, but it’s a lot of drivers and trying to hit it as far as you can. This is more about making birdies.”
Swafford didn’t make any birdies over his last 10 holes in his round of 69, though he wasn’t about to take on any risks and drop unnecessary shots. He’s still in the final group with a good shot at his second PGA Tour title.
“Right in it. I didn’t do anything to hurt myself today,” Swafford said. “Obviously, Adam Long went out and played a great round in tricky wind. … Got to get the bad one out of the way and put a little pressure on Adam.”
Long, who one-putted nine of his last 10 holes, matched the low round Saturday and will go after his second PGA Tour title. His other was in January 2019 when he birdied the last hole of the Desert Classic to beat Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin.
He has a little more separation going into the final round in the Dominican Republic. Long was at 17-under 199, with only five other players within five shots of the lead.
Swafford was at 15 under and will be in the final group. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., twice chipped in for birdie late in his round of 67, leaving him three shots behind. Xinjun Zhang of China had a 68 and was at 13 under, while Nate Lashley (65) and Sean O’Hair (70) were five shots behind.
Long took off with five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn, and he really poured it on when Swafford began to stall. Along with birdies on both par 5s, Nos. 12 and 14, Long punched a wedge from a flyer lie in the rough on the 13th, and it came out perfectly to 8 feet pin-high for birdie.
“The best shot of the day,” he said. “It was a tough lie, it was a flyer lie sitting up pretty good, but crosswind. And short’s not great and long’s even worse, so hit a good pitching wedge in there and that really felt nice to convert that birdie.”
He saved par from right of the 16th green and had another key save on the 18th when he had mud on his ball that sent it it to the right, just on the edge of a bunker. He chipped that down to about 4 feet to protect a bogey-free round.
Hughes played with Long and felt like he was further behind than he was.
“I didn’t have much going today and I was watching Adam play awesome, so it was like getting run over by a semi,” Hughes said. “But hung in here. My caddie did a good job of reminding me of just hanging tough and waiting for a little run there.”
It happened when Hughes least expected it. From left of the green, his chip was running hot when it banged into the pin and dropped for birdie. After another birdie on the 16th, he came up just short of the green on the par-3 17th hole that runs along the Caribbean, and pitched that with perfect pace into the cup.
Golf is easy for @MacHughesGolf ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/zfsN0fWEyF
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) September 26, 2020
It was one of only four birdies on the 17th in the third round.
O’Hair, coming off a torn oblique in February 2019 and required surgery and kept him out of golf for a year, was hanging around with a clever knock-down wedge from 95 yards that stopped inches away for birdie on the 12th. But he drove into a stand of palm trees that led to bogey on the 13th, and he dropped another shot on the 626-yard 14th.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 3-under 69 to get to 6 under.
Anirban Lahiri of India also had a 64 and was in a large group at 11-under 205 that included Justin Suh, the former Southern Cal star who needs a top 10 to get into the next PGA Tour event.
Pendrith cards career-low round to lead at Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth
WICHITA, Kansas – Taylor Pendrith fired an 8-under 62 on Friday to claim the 36-hole lead at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth at 13-under 127. Jared Wolfe sits alone in second at 12-under 128.
Pendrith, who began the day two strokes off the lead, started the second round with two birdies on his first four holes. After his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 fifth, the Canadian took advantage of the short par-4 seventh with an eagle.
On the back, Pendrith tallied his third birdie of the round on the par-4 11th. After a par on No. 12, he caught fire with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-16 to reach 13-under for the week. He closed with pars on Nos. 17 and 18 to card an 8-under 62, good for a new career-low on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I hit the driver really well,” Pendrith said. “There are a couple holes here where you can get a little more aggressive and get it up close to the greens. I drove it really well and my putter was on. I didn’t make too many mistakes and when I missed the green, I was in pretty simple spots where I could almost chip in.”
Pendrith, who won twice on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2019, has been one of the most consistent players on the Korn Ferry Tour this season. In 18 starts this season, Pendrith has recorded five top-10s and three runner-up finishes. Despite the close calls, the Kent State University product is still in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title.
“It’s a great spot to be. I’ve been in similar positions this year, but I haven’t been able to close it out,” he said. “It’s nice to get off to a good start. I feel like at those other tournaments, I was always kind of trailing. I’ll just try and make as many birdies as I can and see where we’re at on Sunday. I’m looking forward to it.”
After a great stretch of play on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this summer, Pendrith earned a spot in last week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. Highlighted by a final-round 70, the 29-year-old earned a T23 result in his U.S. Open debut.
“That place (Winged Foot) is so hard. I’m happy to be back out here making birdies,” he said with a laugh. “I played great on Sunday and shot even-par. That gives me a ton of confidence. A lot of the top guys out there struggled which is very easy to do there. I managed my game nicely and had a good week.”
Wolfe, who held a share of the first-round lead, sits alone in second after a 5-under 65 on Friday. Beginning on the back nine, Wolfe carded two birdies and an eagle on his first eight holes to reach 11-under for the tournament. On the par-4 18th, Wolfe’s tee shot narrowly fell out of bounds resulting in a double bogey. Despite the setback, he rallied with three birdies on his final nine holes to reach 12-under after two rounds.
“I know how I’m playing right now, and I know I like this course,” Wolfe said. “I know how I’m putting it so, I’m just kind of waiting to see how each hole and each shot goes. Thankfully, I made a lot of birdies again today and hopefully I can keep that going on the weekend.”
Third-round tee times will run from approximately 9:20 – 11:20 a.m. on Saturday with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10.
Hughes sits T5 in Punta Cana
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – A hornet sting early and a bunch of birdies late carried Hudson Swafford to a 5-under 67 on Friday for a two-shot lead going into the weekend of the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.
Joining him in the final group will be Sean O’Hair, who missed an entire year with a torn oblique and returned just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to shut down golf.
Swafford played in the morning when it was humid along the Caribbean Sea but without much wind. He started on the back nine and it was largely uneventful, except for that hornet that stung him on the joint of his pinky finger while he reached for his putter after playing one hole.
“It started swelling up, so I was just kind of rubbing ice on it after tee shots for the first five, six holes on the back side,” Swafford said. “I guess it kind of cleared my mind of the golf thing and just let me focus on something else.”
Swafford has a good feel for the greens this week, so his objective was to give himself enough chances. After a pair of birdies on the back nine, and then a few mistakes when the wind arrived, Swafford ran off three birdies at the end of his round and set the target at 12-under 132.
“My caddie got stung yesterday on the forearm on the first hole, and I guess he said it’s kind of a good omen,” Swafford said. “We played well, and we ended up playing well again today.”
Two shots behind were O’Hair (67), former Southern Cal star Justin Suh (67) and Luke List (65).
All have dealt with some form of injuries. Swafford is missed most of last summer with foot surgery. Suh had a wrist injury right when he turned pro that slowed his progress.
And then there was 38-year-old O’Hair, a four-time PGA Tour winner. He tore his oblique at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2019, had surgery to repair and remove scar tissues, and he didn’t play another PGA Tour event until Pebble Beach this year. He played the Honda Classic. And then golf shut down.
“I’ve been out pretty much almost a year-and-a-half now,” said O’Hair, who missed the cut in the Safeway Open last week. “So it’s trying to get in a groove again, in the routine again. My body is still not quite there as far as the workload that you do from travelling and hitting balls and walking and practice. It’s kind of hard to practice that at home.
“I’ve tried to play as much as I can at home to get ready for this, and this is going to be my first three weeks in a row for a year-and-a-half, so that’s going to be a big task for me, for sure.”
Suh chipped in for birdie on the 17th, and then made an 18-foot par putt on the 18th when his approach rolled off the side of the green into a collection area.
Mackenzie Hughes of Canada had a 67 and was at 9-under 135 along with Adam Long, who ran off six straight birdies and was 8 under through 12 holes on his round until he made back-to-back bogeys. He had to settle for a 65, still not a bad way to celebrate his 33rd birthday.
The cut was at 3-under 141, and among those missing the weekend was Graham DeLaet. The Canadian opened with a 78 and was 14 shots better Friday. But his 64 left him one shot short of making the cut.
Defending champion Graeme McDowell shot 73 and missed the cut.
The tournament was a Korn Ferry Tour event three years ago. It graduated to an opposite-field event, and then was elevated to a full FedEx Cup event for this year when it was postponed until late September, and then the Ryder Cup this week was postponed until 2021.
That means the winner this week gets an invitation to the Masters next April, and the final two rounds will be broadcast on NBC Sports, which had set aside this time for the Ryder Cup.
Mike Davis to retire as CEO of USGA so he can build courses
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Mike Davis spent the last decade running the USGA, where he set up golf courses to provide an extreme test for elite players and searched for solutions to increasing distance.
Now he wants to build golf courses, a lifelong passion.
Davis announced Tuesday he will retire as CEO at the end of 2021, ending a 32-year career with the USGA that began with him overseeing ticket sales and transportation. He became the seventh executive director in 2011 and the USGA’s first CEO after an organizational shakeup in 2016.
Davis, whose love of golf course architecture dates to when he was a junior golfer and would doodle holes on a piece of paper, said he will join Tom Fazio II in a new golf architecture firm called Fazio & Davis Golf Design.
“One of the wonderful things these 32 years afforded me was I’ve gone out of my way to see most of the world’s great courses,” Davis said. “I’ve played them, studied them, read about them, taken pictures of them. I’ve read all the architecture books. I get as giddy with some architects as I do being around Jack, Arnold, Byron Nelson and Mickey Wright.”
The announcement comes two days after Bryson DeChambeau crushed the notion that accuracy is tantamount to U.S. Open success. DeChambeau said he would hit driver as often as he could, even if it went into Winged Foot’s notorious rough, and he won by six shots by becoming the only player at par or better all four rounds of a U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
The retirement, however, was in the works for several years. Davis had planned to announce it in September when the 2020 USGA championship season was over, so a successor could be found. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic forced the U.S. Open to be postponed from June until last week, with the U.S. Women’s Open in Houston still to come in December.
Davis said he told his wife when he was appointed executive director in 2011 that he would do the job for 10 years. He told the USGA board more than three years ago that he would work through 2021 so he could try his hand at building courses.
“I knew I would regret it if I didn’t try,” he said.
His one regret was not seeing through the conclusion of the “Distance Insights Project.” A summary in February suggested it was time to stop increases in distance at all levels, highlighting an average gain of 25 yards over the last 30 years for elite players. The feedback process and next step have been delayed by the pandemic.
“I think something is going to happen,” Davis said. “When is it going to be done? How is it going to be done? How will we introduce it? It’s a multiyear process. I’d have to stay many years to see this thing through. I’m just happy that for the first in over 100 years, we’re finally doing something. I pushed at it with the R&A, I pushed it with our own group.
“I will look back saying that is one thing I am very proud of, because I just know it’s in the best interest in the game.”
His last U.S. Open will be at Torrey Pines next summer. Meanwhile, Davis stays on to guide the USGA through the COVID-19 pandemic, setting up what amounts to a satellite office and a new testing centre in Pinehurst, North Carolina, advancing the distance project and working with his successor.
USGA President Stu Francis said a search would begin immediately, with hopes of having the next CEO hired by the U.S. Open next summer.
Davis first took over setting up U.S. Open courses at Winged Foot in 2006, and he introduced the concept of graduated rough that grew longer the farther away from the fairway. That was from his first U.S. Open experience at Baltusrol in 1980, which he attended with his father. Davis recalls thinking it was unfair that someone who missed the fairway by a little was punished more than someone who missed by a lot.
He has been criticized for some setup decisions, most recently at Shinnecock Hills, though that was to be expected. His predecessor, Tom Meeks, predicted in 2009 that Davis would make a mistake at some point. “It doesn’t happen by design. It happens because it’s the U.S. Open,” Meeks said.
There was so much more to the job, especially as CEO. Davis was part of the most significant overhaul of the Rules of Golf that took effect in 2019, and he signed off on a decision to ban the anchored stroke used for long putters a few years earlier. He also was executive director when the USGA signed a 12-year broadcast deal with Fox worth about $1 billion, a deal that NBC took over again earlier this year.
Part of Davis already is looking ahead. He doesn’t want to design golf courses on paper. He wants to build them, and he said he would spend time on the construction crews of architects Bill Coore and Gil Hanse to learn that end of it.
“I can’t wait to get my hands dirty,” Davis said, chuckling like someone who has been wanting to do this for a long time.
Kim Locke announced as recipient of GJAC’s Dick Grimm Award
TORONTO – The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) announced on Monday that Kim Locke is the recipient of the 2020 Dick Grimm Award, the association’s highest honour.
A committee of past GJAC Presidents selected Locke, whose leadership in founding and publishing SCOREGolf have contributed richly to the discourse and coverage of Canadian golf for four decades.
Named in honour of Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Richard “Dick” Grimm, whose legendary service to the Canadian Open and the Canadian golf industry is unparalleled in Canadian golf history, the Dick Grimm Award is presented annually to those who have made a significant lifetime contribution to Canadian golf.
“It’s truly an honour to be this year’s recipient of the Dick Grimm Award,” said Locke. “When I first broke into the golf media business 40 years ago Dick was extremely influential as a mentor and trusted advisor. He was also a dear close friend who epitomized the game’s values the entirety of his long distinguished career. My sincere thanks to the Golf Journalists Association of Canada for bestowing me with an award that embodies what Dick Grimm meant to golf right across Canada.”
Under Locke’s leadership since launching as SCORE, Canada’s Golf Magazine in 1980, SCOREGolf has made countless contributions to Canadian golf media including editorial coverage in print, TV and radio, course rankings and platforms for diverse voices across the Canadian golf industry. In January, SCOREGolf was awarded the PGA of Canada’s George Cumming Distinguished Service Award.
“Over the course of his career Kim’s work has contributed immensely to the Canadian golf community,” said David McPherson, GJAC President. “We’re proud to present him with this award in the name of Dick Grimm, whose tireless efforts to promote the game of golf in Canada had so much in common with what SCOREGolf has achieved over the past 40 years.”
Grimm, who passed away in 2014, was a true giant of the game in Canada, and in the world of golf. He was an energetic supporter of GJAC, and the association’s highest annual award is named after him.
Bryson DeChambeau blasts way to U.S. Open title
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – What was supposed to be a typical U.S. Open produced a most unconventional champion.
Bryson DeChambeau was not the least bit concerned by the narrow fairways or the ankle-deep rough that shape Winged Foot into historically the toughest of all U.S. Opens. With his extra 40 pounds of muscle and mass, he wanted to pound it into submission with his driver, even if his errant shots were buried in deep grass.
That’s how he plays the game. And for skeptics who said that wouldn’t work in a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, just look at that shiny silver trophy he kissed, and the record score he posted Sunday in a six-shot victory.
This victory was as much about validating his out-of-the-box approach to the royal and ancient game.
“One hundred per cent, no doubt,” DeChambeau said. “For me, it’s about the journey of can I executive every shot more repeatable than everybody else. I was able to do that this week. That’s why I won by six.”
Part of this course’s fame is the “Massacre of Winged Foot” in 1974 when the winning score was 7-over par.
This was a massacre, all right.
DeChambeau rolled in a 7-foot par putt and thrust those powerful arms in the air when he capped off a 3-under 67 on a course that didn’t allow another round under par. Two shots behind Matthew Wolff at the start of a chilly September afternoon, he caught him in four holes, passed him in five and pulled away along the back nine.
From the fairway. From the rough. It didn’t matter.
“I don’t really know what to say because that’s just the complete opposite of what you think a U.S. Open champion does” Rory McIlroy said. “Look, he’s found a way to do it. Whether that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know, but it’s just not the way I saw this golf course being played or this tournament being played.”
Call him a mad scientist in a tam o’shanter cap. Call him a game-changer in golf.
Any description now starts with U.S. Open champion.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was the top Canadian following a 70 that left him 10 over, good for 23rd spot. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., struggled to an 80, finishing at 19 over.
Wolff, trying to become the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win the U.S. Open in his debut, closed with a 75. He made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth to stay within one shot. That was his only hole under par. Wolff finished at even-par 280, a score that would have won four of the previous five U.S. Opens at Winged Foot.
It didn’t stand a chance in this one.
“You can’t take Bryson out because obviously he won, but shooting even par for four rounds at Winged Foot is pretty exceptional,” Wolff said.
That describes DeChambeau this week. It was a breathtaking performance, four rounds at par or better, the first player to manage that at Winged Foot.
His victory really began last October, when he closed out his 2019 season in Las Vegas and said with a mischievous grin, “I’m going to come back next year and look like a different person.” He added 40 pounds through intense workout and a diet of 6,000 calories a day.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months, leading to the U.S. Open being postponed from June to September. It also gave DeChambeau more time to execute his plan of swinging faster and harder, stretching the limits.
His work ethnic borders on insanity, and the eve of the final round was no exception. Unhappy with how he played Saturday, hitting only three fairways, DeChambeau had the lights turned on so he could stay on the range well past 8 p.m., pounding driver, searching for the right swing. Temperatures were in the 40s. He was in a short-sleeve shirt.
He didn’t find fairways, but he seemed to miss in the right spots. That was key for a player who hit only six fairways on Sunday, 23 out of 56 for the week.
Skepticism turned into admiration, with a healthy dose of disbelief.
“It’s a game we’ve never really seen before,” said Harris English, who shot 73 and finished fourth.
Louis Oosthuizen birdied the 18th to finish alone in third.
“I don’t think they can set it up for him, to be honest,” Oosthuizen said. “I don’t know what they can do really, because he’s hitting it so far. He’s so strong out of the rough. And he’s probably one of the best putters out there, which a week that he really putts well, you’re going to have a lot of trouble.”
In six U.S. Opens at Winged Foot among 894 competitors, DeChambeau is only the third to finish a tournament under par. His 6-under 274 was the lowest score, and no one saw it coming this week.
Wolff, the 21-year-old Californian who can drive it past DeChambeau with a lower flight and more roll in the fairway, gave him a good run in his quest to become the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923.
The U.S. Open was still up for grabs for a fleeting moment around the turn. DeChambeau and Wolff each got out of position on the eighth hole and made bogey. DeChambeau was at 3 under, one shot ahead of Wolff. Ahead of them, Oosthuizen and Xander Schauffele were lurking at even par.
Still to play was the back nine, where so much has gone wrong at Winged Foot over the years.
Not this time.
DeChambeau and Wolff blasted drives down the fairway on the par-5 ninth. DeChambeau rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt with perfect pace. Wolff, who had pitching wedge for his second shot, matched his eagle with a 10-foot putt.
Just like that it was a two-man race.
And then it was a one-man show.
Wolff’s tee shot on the par-3 10th rolled left into the thick collar of the bunker, a spot so precarious he had to stand in the deep bunker and grip halfway down the steel shaft of his sand wedge. He chipped 10 feet by the hole for a bogey to fall two shots behind.
From the fairway on the 11th, however, Wolff hit wedge that was chunky and went into the right rough, and he had to scramble for par instead of setting up a reasonable birdie chance. DeChambeau from the right rough came up short, but he used putter from off the green for birdie from 15 feet away.
With a three-shot lead, DeChambeau kept blasting away as if he were chasing, not leading, just like he said he would. He saved par from the left rough on the 14th and a perfect pitch from deep grass behind the green. He downed another protein shake walking down the 15th, marching along to a major title that affirms his position in the game as a pioneer.
Imagine the USGA, which has been studying the impact on distance, getting together for a debriefing after this performance. What would they say?
“He’s hitting it forever,” DeChambeau said with a laugh.
The last laugh.
California cool, Matthew Wolff takes detour to US Open lead
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Matthew Wolff might be too young to realize he’s supposed to hit fairways to have a chance to win the U.S. Open. Or maybe he’s so good it doesn’t matter.
Wolff hit only two fairways Saturday and still matched the lowest score ever at Winged Foot in a major, a 5-under 65 that gave the 21-year-old Californian a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau going into the final round.
Whether it was the first cut or the nasty rough, Wolff kept giving those hips one last swivel before blasting away and giving himself birdie chances. He made enough of them to seize control, and then let so many others crumble.
Patrick Reed, tied for the lead at the turn, couldn’t find the fairway and paid dearly with a 43 on the back nine. Reed had a three-shot lead after two holes. He walked off the 18th green with a 77 and was eight shots behind.
Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship last month in his first try at age 23. Wolff is playing his first U.S. Open at age 21. Is he next?
“I’m probably going to be a little antsy. It’s the U.S. Open, and I have a lead,” Wolff said. “I’m going to try to keep my nerves as calm as they can be. I put myself in a really good spot. I did everything that I could do up until this point, and tomorrow I’m going to go out there, I promise you I’m going to try my best.”
He was at 5-under 205. Not since Francis Ouimet in 1913 – also the last time the U.S. Open was played in September – has a player won the U.S. Open in his debut.
DeChambeau could easily have gone the same route as Reed, missing left and right, gouging his way out of the grass. But after opening with two bogeys, he kept scrambling away – 15 straight holes with nothing worse than par. He rallied with two late birdies until missing a short par putt on the 18th for a 70.
He will be in the final group for the first time in a major, another quiet affair with no spectators on the course.
The U.S. Open began with 21 players under par. There were six going into the weekend. Now it’s down to three, with Louis Oosthuizen efficiently putting together a 68 to finish at 1-under 209.
Both Canadians to make the weekend struggled Saturday. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., fired a 74 to fall to 9 over, while Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., sits 10 over following a 75.
Hideki Matsuyama (70), Xander Schauffele (70) and Harris English (72) were at even-par 210. Another shot back was Rory McIlroy, who posed his 68 some three hours before the leaders finished.
“It doesn’t take much around here … and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things,” McIlroy said. “No matter where I am at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good shot.”
It all depends on Wolff, an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State who won on the PGA Tour in his third event as a pro last summer in the 3M Open in Minnesota.
From the first cut of rough on the opening hole, he hit it to right level of the contoured green for a 15-foot birdie. From the right rough on No. 4, he wound up with another 15-foot birdie putt. And then he really poured it on.
He drove next to the green on the short par-4 sixth, getting up-and-down from a bunker for birdie. He holed a 12-foot birdie on the par-3 seventh. And when he finally hit his first fairway on No. 8, he missed a 6-foot birdie attempt.
His lone bogey came on the 16th when he was in such a bad lie in the rough he couldn’t reach the green. And he finished with a most fortuitous hop. His iron off the tee hopped into the thick rough and back out to the first cut. He ripped 7-iron to 10 feet for one last birdie.
“If I don’t hit fairways tomorrow, I know I can play well,” Wolff said with a smile. “Even when I was in the rough, I had a bunch of good numbers and a bunch of good lies.”
And he played a lot of good golf, so good that even at his age, he looked to be a daunting figure to catch.
“I don’t think there’s any `chasing’ out here,” Schauffele said, adding that if Wolff had another good round Sunday it would be “impossible to catch him.”
DeChambeau gave himself hope, among five players within five of the lead on a course where anything goes. Think back to the last U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy hit a superb pitch to 6 feet for par that he thought was only good for second place until Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie closed with double bogeys.
“I feel like I’m ready to win out here and win a major,” Wolff said. “It is a major. It’s really important and yes, it is really early in my career. But I feel like I have the game to win. Collin won at 23. I’m 21. And I’m not saying that it’s going to happen. But I put myself in a really good spot, and obviously I’m feeling really good with my game.”
– Matthew Wolff might be too young to realize he’s supposed to hit fairways to have a chance to win the U.S. Open. Or maybe he’s so good it doesn’t matter.
Wolff hit only two fairways Saturday and still matched the lowest score ever at Winged Foot in a major, a 5-under 65 that gave the 21-year-old Californian a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau going into the final round.
Whether it was the first cut or the nasty rough, Wolff kept giving those hips one last swivel before blasting away and giving himself birdie chances. He made enough of them to seize control, and then let so many others crumble.
Patrick Reed, tied for the lead at the turn, couldn’t find the fairway and paid dearly with a 43 on the back nine. Reed had a three-shot lead after two holes. He walked off the 18th green with a 77 and was eight shots behind.
Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship last month in his first try at age 23. Wolff is playing his first U.S. Open at age 21. Is he next?
“I’m probably going to be a little antsy. It’s the U.S. Open, and I have a lead,” Wolff said. “I’m going to try to keep my nerves as calm as they can be. I put myself in a really good spot. I did everything that I could do up until this point, and tomorrow I’m going to go out there, I promise you I’m going to try my best.”
He was at 5-under 205. Not since Francis Ouimet in 1913 – also the last time the U.S. Open was played in September – has a player won the U.S. Open in his debut.
DeChambeau could easily have gone the same route as Reed, missing left and right, gouging his way out of the grass. But after opening with two bogeys, he kept scrambling away – 15 straight holes with nothing worse than par. He rallied with two late birdies until missing a short par putt on the 18th for a 70.
He will be in the final group for the first time in a major, another quiet affair with no spectators on the course.
The U.S. Open began with 21 players under par. There were six going into the weekend. Now it’s down to three, with Louis Oosthuizen efficiently putting together a 68 to finish at 1-under 209.
Hideki Matsuyama (70), Xander Schauffele (70) and Harris English (72) were at even-par 210. Another shot back was Rory McIlroy, who posed his 68 some three hours before the leaders finished.
“It doesn’t take much around here … and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things,” McIlroy said. “No matter where I am at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good shot.”
It all depends on Wolff, an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State who won on the PGA Tour in his third event as a pro last summer in the 3M Open in Minnesota.
From the first cut of rough on the opening hole, he hit it to right level of the contoured green for a 15-foot birdie. From the right rough on No. 4, he wound up with another 15-foot birdie putt. And then he really poured it on.
He drove next to the green on the short par-4 sixth, getting up-and-down from a bunker for birdie. He holed a 12-foot birdie on the par-3 seventh. And when he finally hit his first fairway on No. 8, he missed a 6-foot birdie attempt.
His lone bogey came on the 16th when he was in such a bad lie in the rough he couldn’t reach the green. And he finished with a most fortuitous hop. His iron off the tee hopped into the thick rough and back out to the first cut. He ripped 7-iron to 10 feet for one last birdie.
“If I don’t hit fairways tomorrow, I know I can play well,” Wolff said with a smile. “Even when I was in the rough, I had a bunch of good numbers and a bunch of good lies.”
And he played a lot of good golf, so good that even at his age, he looked to be a daunting figure to catch.
“I don’t think there’s any `chasing’ out here,” Schauffele said, adding that if Wolff had another good round Sunday it would be “impossible to catch him.”
DeChambeau gave himself hope, among five players within five of the lead on a course where anything goes. Think back to the last U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy hit a superb pitch to 6 feet for par that he thought was only good for second place until Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie closed with double bogeys.
“I feel like I’m ready to win out here and win a major,” Wolff said. “It is a major. It’s really important and yes, it is really early in my career. But I feel like I have the game to win. Collin won at 23. I’m 21. And I’m not saying that it’s going to happen. But I put myself in a really good spot, and obviously I’m feeling really good with my game.”
Reed takes the lead as the real US Open gets started
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – This was the Winged Foot everyone has heard about. This is the U.S. Open everyone expected.
Patrick Reed answered the first big test Friday when the wind arrived out of the north, bringing a little chill and a lot of trouble. He never got flustered by bogeys and made enough birdie putts and key saves for an even-par 70.
It felt just as rewarding as the 66 he shot in the opening round, and it gave him a one-shot lead over muscleman Bryson DeChambeau, who powered and putted his way to a 68.
The opening round featured soft greens, a few accessible pins and 21 rounds under par. Friday was the epitome of a major long known as the toughest test in golf.
Three players broke par. Nine others shot even par. Everyone else was hanging on for dear life. As the final groups tried to beat darkness in this September U.S. Open, only six players remained in red numbers.
“It’s almost like they set it up to ease our way into it, and then showed us what it’s supposed to really be like,” Reed said.
Television showed his five birdies. What took him to the 36-hole lead at 4-under 136 was a collection of pars from bunkers and from thick grass just over the greens. He managed them all with grit, a common trait among U.S. Open champions.
DeChambeau showed plenty of resiliency, too, bouncing back with birdies after all five of his bogeys and finishing the best round of the day with a pitching wedge on the downwind, 557-yard, par-5 ninth to 6 feet for eagle.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain and Harris English each had a 70 and were at 2-under 138.
They were joined by Justin Thomas, who opened with a 65 – the lowest ever at Winged Foot for a U.S. Open – and lost all those shots to par after 10 holes. Thomas then delivered a 5-wood from 228 yards into the wind on the par-3 third hole and made a slick, 15-foot, double-breaking birdie putt to steady himself. He scratched out a 73 and is right in it.
Jason Kokrak (71) was the only other player under par at 1-under 139.
Taylor Pendrith (74) of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Adam Hadwin (73) of Abbotsford, B.C., were tied for 33rd at 5 over par. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., missed the cut.
“This isn’t exactly a place where you go out and try to shoot 6 or 7 under to catch up,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to worry about what everyone else is doing because you could shoot 80 just as easily as you could shoot 68. I just need to stay focused, and most importantly, go home and get some rest. Because I’m pretty tired.”
There’s still 36 holes to go, and no indication that Winged Foot is going to get any easier.
“The rough is still really thick. I don’t think they’re planning on cutting it,” Matthew Wolff said after salvaging a 74 that left him four shots behind. “The greens are only going to get firmer, and the scores are only going to get higher.”
Tiger Woods is among those who won’t be around to experience it. He had a pair of double bogeys at the end of the back nine, and two birdies over his last three holes gave him a 77. He missed the cut by four shots, the eighth time in his last 15 majors he won’t be around for the weekend.
“It feels like the way the golf course is changing, is turning, that anybody who makes the cut has the opportunity to win this championship,” Woods said. “I didn’t get myself that opportunity.”
Neither did Phil Mickelson, who had his highest 36-hole score in 29 appearances in the one major he hasn’t won. Ditto for Jordan Spieth, whose 81 was his highest score in a major. PGA champion Collin Morikawa missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole that cost him a chance to keep playing.
Reed turned in a workman-like performance, making birdies when he had the chance, saving par when needed. This is the kind of golf he loves. It’s a grind. And it’s about feel. He was most pleased with his birdie on No. 1 after he made the turn, going with a chip 8-iron from 147 yards into the wind and riding the slope at the back of the green to tap-in range.
“I love when it’s hard, when you have to be creative on all different golf shots,” he said.
There were plenty of great rounds on such a demanding course, many of which fell apart at the end. Louis Oosthuizen was 3 under in the morning when he finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for a 74. Xander Schauffele was 3 under until he bogeyed three of his last five holes.
“The wind can make a par-3 course difficult, so put that on a U.S. Open setup, it’s going to be even more so,” Schauffele said. “It’ll be a fun afternoon to watch on TV.”
Rory McIlroy’s problems started early. He was 5 over through seven holes, including a birdie at the start, and shot 76 to fall seven shots behind. Dustin Johnson was bogey-free through 16 holes until a pair of bad tee shots led to bogey. He had a 70 and was in the group at 3-over 143.
All of them still feel as though the U.S. Open is in sight.
“I’m confident now, after seeing what was out there this afternoon, over par will win this tournament,” Adam Scott said a 74 left him nine shots back. “The greens finally dried out. If there’s any breeze, over par is winning.”
It usually does at Winged Foot.
Thomas takes US Open lead with 65 on soft, kind Winged Foot
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – All that hype over how tough the U.S. Open can be at Winged Foot. All that history of so many scores over par.
Thursday brought a surprise: All those red numbers.
Justin Thomas led the way with six birdies and only one bogey from a bad lie in the bunker, finishing with a 25-foot birdie putt that he barely touched for a 5-under 65.
It was the lowest score in a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which is hosting the Open for the sixth time dating to 1929. And it was worth only a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed, Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Matthew Wolff, the 21-year-old Californian making his U.S. Open debut.
Rory McIlroy, who has been struggling to get off to a decent start in the majors, opened with a 67 and tried to contain his disappointment it wasn’t lower. He had a pair of three-putts that held him back, one on the 329-yard sixth where he hit driver onto the middle of the green and had to settle for par.
McIlroy was among those two shots behind on a scoreboard filled with red numbers, an unusual site for Winged Foot. In the previous five U.S. Opens, a total of 17 players were under par after the first round. On Thursday, there were 21.
No one believes it will stay that way. Still, this was the day to take advantage.
“It’s helpful with three days left, but it’s not even remotely close to being over,” Thomas said of his best start in a U.S Open or any major. “As great of a round and fun as it was, it’s over with now, and I need to get over it.”
Thomas went into the week saying it was a “different kind of fun” to grind over pars, to hit middle irons to difficult pins instead of the low scoring at so many other tournaments.
This was fun, too.
Patrick Reed and Will Zalatoris made a hole-in-one on No. 7, and Zalatoris somehow missed another ace on No. 13. Spanish amateur Eduard Rousand holed out for eagle from the first fairway with his second shot in his U.S. Open debut. Louis Oosthuizen holed out for eagle on second fairway.
“Yeah, 65 is fun no matter where you play, especially at Winged Foot,” Thomas said. “I was in a really good frame of mind, and I was focused. I just was sticking to my routine and playing every shot, as opposed to getting ahead of myself. It’s one of those rounds where … next thing you know, you make the putt on 18, you’re done for the day.”
He played with Tiger Woods and PGA champion Collin Morikawa, who couldn’t get done fast enough.
Woods was in five bunkers through five holes and then appeared to steady himself with three straight birdies around the turn to get under par, but only briefly. He made three bogeys coming in, still had a chance to post a reasonable score and then let it get away.
From short of the steep shelf fronting the 18th green, he flubbed a flop shot, pitched the next one about 8 feet beyond the pin and missed the putt to take double bogey for a73.
“I did not finish off the round like I needed to,” Woods said, an expression he uttered five more times out of the six questions he faced after his round.
Neither did Morikawa, who shot 40 on the back nine for a 76.
Pieters and Wolff dropped only one shot along the way while playing in the afternoon, when the greens became a little more difficult because of all the foot traffic. Even so, low scores – at least by Winged Foot standards – kept coming.
“There’s a couple of guys that went a little lower than maybe expected,” McIlroy said. “But it’s not as if the rest of the field are finding it that easy.”
Raise your hand, Phil Mickelson.
Returning to the scene of a double bogey on the 72nd hole that cost him the 2006 U.S. Open, Mickelson opened with two birdies and still struggled to break 80. He went rough-to-rough on the 18th and shot 79. Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, couldn’t make putts and shot 73.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., were tied for 33rd at 1 over. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., were tied for 57th at 2 over.
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Low clouds added to the soft feel of Winged Foot. The greens were fast but not as firm. Jordan Spieth discovered that on the first hole. He was trying to figure out if his approach would take a hard hop and release or land soft and spin back. He guessed wrong, the ball rolled down the slope to the front of the the green and he three-putted for bogey. He also shot 73.
Thomas judged it correctly with a short iron left of the flag that spun back close to the hole for birdie. His only dropped shot came at the par-3 third because the ball settled on a downward slope of a bunker, leaving him no chance to get it close. There were few complaints the rest of the way.
He also made three birdies around the turn, narrowly missing a fourth in a row from just inside 10 feet at the par-5 12th. Thomas felt at ease, and Winged Foot allowed him to feel that way. At least Thursday.
The previous low score for a U.S. Open was a 66 by Fuzzy Zoeller in the second round in 1984.
“The greens are very soft,” Thomas said. “I thought they’d be a little firmer, but I also understood that they need to err on this side of they can get them how they want this weekend. … It’s still Winged Foot. You’ve still got to hit the shots.”