Mark Silvers wins Cape Breton Celtic Classic
BEON EOIN, NS – Savannah, Georgia’s Mark Silvers defeated Grand Rapids, Michigan’s Matt Harmon in a playoff to win the Cape Breton Celtic Classic presented by PC Financial, securing his first PGA Tour Canada victory.
Silvers, who began the week 89th on the Order of Merit, turned his season around with the win, carding a final round 6-under 66 at The Lakes Golf Club to reach 15-under par for the week and move all the way to the 10th spot on the season-long money list with one event to go.
“I can hardly put it into words. Coming into the end of the year, I wasn’t going to have Web.com Tour status for next year and had I not played well, I wouldn’t have had PGA Tour Canada status for next year,” said Silvers, who was previously most well-known for his Big Break Greenbrier win. “To come in and play well when I had to, and to now have a chance to skip some stages and definitely have status up here for next year is so big.”
Silvers began the day three shots behind 54-hole co-leaders Michael Gligic and Dan McCarthy, but moved up the leaderboard quickly with a 3-under 33 on his opening nine. Silvers, who was bogey-free on Sunday, carded three more birdies at 10, 13 and 14 to reach 15-under, then needed to convert a tricky 6-foot par putt at 18 to post the clubhouse lead at 15-under par.
“Getting it up-and-down for par on 18 was awesome, and I had no idea where I stood,” said Silvers, who insisted he didn’t look at a leaderboard all day until the 72nd hole. “I tried to just black out. I had been putting really, really well. I just tried to not let myself think about what it could possibly mean. I felt like I was going to be in good shape regardless, and I’m glad I didn’t look at a leaderboard, because it helped to just free me up to keep doing what I was doing.”
Harmon, the winner earlier this year at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel, pulled even with Silvers with a birdie on 17, then gave himself a look for the outright win at the 18th with an 8-foot birdie putt. The putt hung on the lip, however, giving Silvers life in a sudden victory playoff.
“Luckily I was on the driving range, or I would have had a heart attack,” said Silvers. “Matt played great. We played together yesterday, and he had an awesome four days.”
At No. 10 on the Order of Merit, the win moves Silvers in position to earn an exemption into the final stage of Web.com Tour Q-School. The 27-year old University of South Carolina grad admitted he had a bleak outlook at the beginning with the week, faced with the prospect of losing his status on Tour for next year.
“This is where you want to be. PGA Tour Canada is huge now, with world ranking points and the opportunity to move up to the Web.com Tour or the PGA Tour. To get a win with such good players in the field really is amazing,” said Silvers.
Harmon’s second place check vaulted him over Brock Mackenzie into third on the Order of Merit, within $817 of No. 2 Tim Madigan with one event to go. Harmon, Madigan and Mackenzie are all within striking distance of leader Joel Dahmen’s $79,687 total should they be able to win the Tour Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial next week.
Two shots back of the playoff were West Vancouver, BC’s Seann Harlingten, Montreal, Quebec’s Beon-Yeong Lee and McCarthy, a Syracuse, New York native, at 13-under.
With a final round 7-under 65 and a 13-under total, 25-year old Beon-Yeong Lee of Montreal, Quebec claimed Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week honours on Sunday, along with a $1,500 prize.
Each week, Freedom 55 Financial honours the top Canadian on the leaderboard with the award. The top Canadian on the Order of Merit after next week’s Tour Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial will be named Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Year and earn a $10,000 prize.
Adam Hadwin wins Web.com Tour Finals event
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Adam Hadwin won the Chiquita Classic on Sunday to jump from fourth to a tie for first on the money list after the second of four events in the Web.com Tour Finals.
The 26-year-old Canadian, the Chile Classic winner in March, closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over John Peterson. Hadwin finished at 18-under 270 at River Run.
Hadwin earned $180,000 to push his season total to $473,667. He wrapped a PGA Tour card with his fourth-place finish on the regular-season money list and is competing with the other top-25 players for PGA Tour priority, with the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship.
Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup standings and Nos. 26-75 from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list are playing for 25 PGA Tour cards based on their earnings in the four tournaments.
Peterson shot a 68. He earned $108,000 and has made $127,600 in the first two Web.com Tour Finals events, more than enough to regain his PGA Tour card after finishing 179th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Third-round leader Greg Chalmer had a 75 to drop into a tie for eighth at 12 under. The 40-year-old Australian finished 132nd in the FedEx Cup standings.
Wes Short Jr. wins Quebec Championship
QUEBEC CITY -Wes Short Jr. made an 8-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the Quebec Championship on Sunday for his first Champions Tour’s title.
The 51-year-old Short played the final 10 holes in 8 under for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke victory over Scott Dunlap in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the area since 1956.
“It was slow in coming, that’s for sure,” Short said. “The first eight holes I parred, and I get to No. 9 and I hit a hybrid in the sand trap and then hit it out to about 6 feet and I felt like that was a very important putt to make. I made it. Then it seemed to open the floodgates.”
Dunlap, the Boeing Classic winner two weeks ago, also eagled the par-5 18th for a 64.
“Thinking back a couple weeks ago in my comment after getting a win, you can play winning golf and not hoist the trophy,” Dunlap said. “In any given week there’s probably two or maybe three guys who play well enough to win, but sometimes you just get beat.”
Moments after Dunlap’s eagle putt, Short holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 17 to pull within one.
Short set up the winning putt with a hybrid from 251 yards on the par-5 closing hole.
“I didn’t really look at the leaderboard until the 18th hole,” Short said. “I looked over and actually I kind of thought I was going to be in the lead or tied with Scott going to the last hole. Then I looked over
there and he had made eagle, so now I’m one behind and I have to birdie the last hole to get into a playoff or he’s going to win. I hit a very nice hybrid in there, and it’s a nice situation to know even if I miss it I was going to have another chance to get in a playoff to win.”
Short finished at 15-under 201 at La Tempete and earned $240,000 to jump from 36th to 20th on the money list with $379,719. He won in Las Vegas in 2005 for his lone PGA Tour title.
“I was hitting it pretty good, so didn’t really make a lot the first two days,” Short said. “But I saved an awful lot for that last nine holes.”
Brad Faxon and Esteban Toledo, the winner last year at La Vallee du Richelieu in the then-Montreal Championship, shot 71 to tie for third at 11 under. They were tied for the second-round lead.
Jim Rutledge finished tied for 10th at 8-under 208 to top the Canadians in the field.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen closed with a 72 to tie for 23rd at 7 under in his first Champions Tour event. He turned 50 last week.
Horschel holds on for title at BMW Championship
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – The bad swing last week is a distant memory. The blown lead Sunday – that wasn’t enough to derail Billy Horschel, either.
Horschel let a three-shot lead drop to nothing early in the final round of the BMW Championship before rebounding for a two-stroke victory over Bubba Watson. Horschel shot a 1-under 69 and finished at 14-under 266 to put himself in prime position for the FedEx Cup title and its $10 million bonus at the Tour Championship next week.
Horschel heads into the final week of the playoff chase in second place in the points standings thanks to the victory and his tie for second a week ago – when he chunked a 6-iron well short on the final hole, squandering a chance to beat or force a playoff with playoff leader Chris Kirk.
This time, the 27-year-old from Grant, Florida, smoothed his approach into the middle of the 18th green and the only drama was whether he’d have time for a quick pit stop before he had to putt. He sprinted up the fairway, ducked under the ropes and was back in plenty of time to two-putt and close out the victory.
“Obviously, after last week, a lot of people on Twitter were calling me a choker,” Horschel said. “I didn’t choke. I made one bad swing at a bad time. To start with a three-shot lead today and hold on means a lot.”
About an hour earlier, it was another chunked shot that drastically altered the course of the tournament.
Ryan Palmer erased his three-shot deficit to Horschel and was tied after six holes, then again after 11.
Palmer was one behind as the final threesome walked down the 13th fairway, with Horschel buried in the right rough and Palmer buried in the left. Horschel hit his second shot safely on the green. Palmer nearly shanked his into a small creek that runs in front of the green. He made double bogey to fall three behind.
That left Sergio Garcia, who cut a seven-shot deficit to two, as the last true threat, but his chance imploded on the par-5 17th – when he cooked his third shot over the green, then chipped back over the green and into the water. He made triple-bogey 8 – sullying a round of 3-under 67. He finished at 9 under, tied for fourth with Palmer (71), Rickie Fowler (68) and Jim Furyk (66).
Watson shot 66 to finish second, his small chance at victory essentially ending when his ball landed up against a divot on the 18th fairway that he couldn’t move, lest the ball roll downhill. He closed the day third in the standings, joining Kirk, Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan among the top five, all of whom control their destiny next week – meaning a win will give them the playoff title, as well.
Palmer’s fourth-place finish moved him from 37th to 23rd.
But outside of Horschel, Sunday’s biggest winner was third-place finisher Morgan Hoffman, who turned the old-school, mile-high layout at Cherry Hills into his personal pitch and putt over the weekend. He shot 7-under 63 on Sunday to go with his course-record 62 on Saturday and vaulted from 68th to 21st in the standings. He started the playoffs 124th.
Hoffman made a 16-foot putt for eagle on 17 to move into the top 30, then hit a 153-yard uphill shot from the rough to 10 feet on 18 for a stress-free par to close the weekend.
“That’s the perfect way of putting it – `nothing to lose,'” Hoffman said. “Carefree and just go out and fire at pins.”
McIlroy finished tied for eighth after a 66 that included a replay of the worst kind – a four-putt on the 12th green for the second straight day. Still, he’s comfortably in the mix for next week.
Also making it were Hideki Matsuyama, who was 28th in the standings after finishing at 4 under and Gary Woodland, who held onto the 29th spot.
In 30th place is Dustin Johnson, whose season is over. Stuart Appleby missed an 18-foot birdie try on his last hole to end up in 31st and Keegan Bradley’s decision to withdraw Saturday because of a question over a drop he took in the opening round left him in 33rd, a five-spot drop.
Graham DeLaet did not advance to the Tour Championship. A costly triple bogey on the par-3 15th hole would seal his fate, leading to a 11th place finish at 7-under 273. DeLaet – the last Canadian remaining in the PGA Tour playoffs – finished 37th in the FedEx standings to miss by seven spots.
David Lipsky wins European Masters in playoff
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland – David Lipsky won the European Masters on Sunday to put himself atop the Asian Tour money list.
Lipsky’s unorthodox par-4 on the first extra hole to beat Englishman Graeme Storm was an appropriate way for the 26-year-old Korean speaker from Los Angeles to earn a career-best (EURO)383,330 ($497,000) payday in the sunbathed Swiss Alps.
With the event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours since 2008, the winner’s prize lifted Lipsky clear in the money list.
“It feels great,” said Lipsky, the first winner here from Asia’s tour and the first American winner since Craig Stadler in 1985. “I’ve played well the last couple of weeks and to put it all together is really something special.”
His difficult route to the 18th green went via a fairway bunker and thick rough well short of the putting surface. An exceptional chip shot left a 2-foot putt for victory.
That strategy came after Storm, the overnight leader, sliced his tee shot wide right and could only chip out sideways before making a bogey-5.
“I was just playing percentages,” said Lipsky of his cautious second shot. “I didn’t mean to hit it in the rough. I overshot my mark by a little bit.”
Still, Lipsky had already played the 18th perfectly in regulation to earn the playoff chance.
His wedge approach shot left a tap-in to complete a final-round 65, playing in the second-last group.
Storm missed a 30-foot putt for victory on the final hole and carded 68. Both had 18-under totals of 262 on the 6,848-yard (6,262-meter) Severiano Ballesteros course
Ballesteros would surely have approved of Lipsky’s adventurous 65 that included an eagle-2, six birdies and three bogeys, with a couple of 3-putts thrown in the mix.
Lipsky has taken a path less traveled in his own career, via Northwestern University, Illinois, to the Asian tour where he first won in 2012 in the Cambodian Classic.
“I have a little bit of east meets west,” said Lipsky, whose father is American and mother is from Seoul, South Korea. “I speak a little bit of Korean. It definitely helped the transition to Asia and made me feel comfortable.”
His $645,770 winnings this season are more than double those of the next player on the Asian Tour money list – Anirban Lahiri of India, who tied for 13th, seven shots back.
Victory also took Lipsky into the top 150 of the world rankings, from No. 369, and earned a European Tour exemption through 2016.
“It has really developed me as a player,” Lipsky said of the Asian circuit. “Now, with European Tour status, I’ll have to think about different scheduling.”
Another young American, Brooks Koepka, and Tyrrell Hatton of England tied for third trailing by one shot after shooting 67 and 65, respectively.
The 24-year-old Koepka, who plays on the European Tour, shared the lead until making bogey-5 at the 17th, after his tee shot found a bunker.
On another low-scoring day in the thin mountain air, a 67 from European Ryder Cup player Jamie Donaldson of Wales was only enough to place seventh, three shots back.
Two other members of Europe’s team to face the United States at Gleneagles, Scotland, were never in contention Sunday. Victor Dubuisson of France shot 72 to finish 10 shots back, and defending champion Thomas Bjorn of Denmark had a 68 to be 12 shots out.
Frenchman Romain Wattel had a hole-in-one at the 11th, one day after Storm claimed the $186,000 hybrid sports car on offer there.
Storm, seeking his first victory since 2007, stayed in front alone until the seventh hole when briefly caught in a three-way tie at 17 under with Lipsky and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, playing in the final group with Storm and Koepka.
Koepka made his move around the turn, easily making birdie at the 633-yard (579-meter) ninth, then picking up another shot on the 10th.
A shootout between Koepka and Storm loomed when both made birdie-4s at the 16th, but the American faltered at the next hole and Lipsky’s exceptional birdie on the last forced the playoff.
Greg Chalmers shoots 67 to take third round lead in Web.com Tour Finals event
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Greg Chalmers birdied two of the last four holes for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead Saturday in the Chiquita Classic, the second of four events in the Web.com Tour Finals.
Chalmers, the 40-year-old Australian who finished 132nd in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, had a 15-under 201 total at River Run. He had eight birdies and three bogeys in the third round.
“It’s kind of new to me, I guess,” Chalmers said. “To be honest, I can’t tell you the last time I led going into Sunday and I’ve been playing as a pro for 20 years. … I just want to experience it and do it. I think if you want to eventually be successful on the PGA Tour you’ve got to get used to dealing with these kinds of things and being in the fishbowl of the last group or the guy that’s leading the tournament. Every experience is new and we’re going to find out a couple of things about me tomorrow.”
Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup standings and Nos. 26-75 from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list playing for 25 PGA Tour cards based on their earnings in the four tournaments.
The top 25 players on the Web.com money list have already earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin, the first-round leader after a course-record 63, was second after a 67. He finished fourth on Web.com Tour money list to wrap up a PGA Tour card.
“It was a great round,” said Hadwin, the Chile Classic winner in March. “One bogey on a Saturday on moving day to put myself in good position. I got a little out of rhythm on the back. I had two real good looks at birdie there on 14 and 16, but I just didn’t hit them hard enough.”
John Peterson was another stroke back after a 68. He was 179th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Derek Fathauer, the second-round leader, had a 75 to drop into a tie for 15th at 9 under. He was 12th on the Web.com money list.
Gligic, Mccarthy share 54-hole lead at Cape Breton Celtic Classic
BEON EOIN, NS – Burlington, Ont.’s Michael Gligic and Syracuse, New York’s Daniel McCarthy will take a share of the lead heading into the final round of the 2014 Cape Breton Celtic Classic presented by PC Financial, both reaching 14-under par through 54 holes at The Lakes Golf Club.
Gligic, who owns top five finishes in each of his last two starts on PGA Tour Canada, carded a 6-under 66 on Saturday to match the lowest round of a very windy day in Nova Scotia, while McCarthy birdied three of his last six holes to shoot 69 and join him in a tie at the top.
“I feel good. I’ve just got to keep going and keep the pedal to the metal and try to make some more birdies tomorrow,” said Gligic, who is now 51-under par in his last three Tournaments dating back to the start of The Great Waterway Classic.
“I really was hitting it pretty good all day. I just missed a couple of putts that could have gone in, but that always happens, so I just tried to keep hitting good shots on the way in, which I ended up doing, and made a couple of birdies,” said the 29-year old McCarthy.
Gligic began the day three shots behind McCarthy, but caught up with a 4-under 32 on the front nine. After three more birdies and two bogeys on the back, the 24-year old struck a brilliant approach from the fairway bunker to three feet on the par-5 18th, but missed the short eagle putt and settled for a birdie and 14-under total through three rounds.
McCarthy, who started the day with a one shot advantage over Moscow, Idaho’s Chris Williams, converted a two-putt birdie of his own at the final hole to tie Gligic. The two will play in the final group on Sunday, a pairing McCarthy said would be comfortable for both players.
“I’ve known Mike for a long time,” said McCarthy. He and I were both rookies at the same time when this was the Canadian Tour back in 2009, so we should have a good time. We know each other pretty well.”
For Gligic, the final round presents another opportunity to capitalize on a stretch of great golf. Before his 4th place finish at The Great Waterway Classic and playoff loss at The Wildfire Invitational presented by PC Financial, he ranked 65th on the Order of Merit, but has jumped all the way to 11th with two events to go, currently the top Canadian on the season-long money ranking.
“The last couple of weeks have been great,” said Gligic, who owns one PGA Tour Canada win at the 2012 ATB Financial Classic. “I fell short a couple of times the last two weeks, but tomorrow’s a new day and hopefully I can get the job done. Hopefully I can overcome a few butterflies and just focus on my game and make a few putts.”
McCarthy, whose best finish on PGA Tour Canada is a solo 12th at this year’s Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist, said the key to success on Sunday would be blocking out the rewards of a potential win and focusing on the round in front of him.
“You just have to try to calm yourself down, because you’re going to be on edge all day long,” McCarthy said. “There is quite a bit on the line, and we all know that, but it’s just golf. You have to try to turn it into a round with your buddies.”
Two shots back of Gligic and McCarthy was Order of Merit No. 4 Matt Harmon, who birdied the 18th for a 12-under total and solo third through three rounds, while West Vancouver, BC native Seann Harlingten carded a 67 to sit solo fourth at 11-under. Williams was one shot further back in fifth at 10-under following a third round 72.
While his fellow members of The Five have struggled this week – Order of Merit leader Joel Dahmen and No. 3 Brock Mackenzie missed the cut, while No. 2 Tim Madigan and No. 5 Josh Persons are T55 and T62, respectively – current No. 4 Matt Harmon has shone so far this week in Cape Breton, sitting in solo third through three rounds.
A strong performance on Sunday could have major implications for The Five.
Harmon, the winner earlier this year at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel, could move as high as No. 2 with a win or No. 3 with a solo second on Sunday, while solidifying his lead over the players below him looking to chase him down in the race for Web.com Tour status.
“That was the best I’ve played all week,” said Harmon after a 3-under 69 in the windy conditions. “I hit the ball right in the middle of the clubface, which is key in the wind.”
Graeme Storm cards ace, leads European Masters
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland – Graeme Storm of England fired a hole-in-one in his third round 6-under 64 to lead the European Masters on Saturday.
Storm’s 16-under total of 194 was one stroke clear of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 63 on the sunbathed, 6,848-yard Severiano Ballesteros course.
Using a 6-iron, Storm aced the 217-yard par-3 11th to win a hybrid sports car valued at $186,000.
Storm, who is 159th in the European Tour money list, currently does not own a car and earned a more modest prize for his previous hole-in-one in March at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
“There is a big difference between a lamp and a car like that,” said the 36-year-old Storm, whose only career win was seven years ago.
Brooks Koepka of the United States trailed Storm by two after making double-bogey on the par-4 18th, his only dropped shots in a 66.
Another American, David Lipsky, shot 66 to be three strokes off the lead in fourth.
Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson of Wales was a further stroke back, losing the lead after triple- and double-bogeys on par-4s coming home.
“A couple of bad shots cost me really,” said Donaldson, noting that a four-shot deficit can be quickly made up in thin Swiss Alps air. “Definitely. I haven’t really had a really low (round) yet.”
Joining Donaldson on 12 under were overnight leader Richie Ramsay of Scotland and Tyrrell Hatton of England.
Ramsay, the 2012 champion, shot a level-par 70 after bogeying three of the first four holes, and Hatton had two eagle-3s in his 5-under 65.
Donaldson’s Ryder Cup teammates, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, both shot 68s to sit six and 12 shots back, respectively.
Dubuisson is among four players on 10 under, including Italian Marco Crespi whose bogey-free 62 tied for lowest score of the day.
Horschel goes low at Cherry Hills, takes lead at BMW Championship
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – Billy Horschel needed less than a week to give himself a second chance. If he keeps playing this well, his next shot at closing out a tournament won’t be nearly as stressful as the last one.
Horschel made a 32-foot birdie putt Saturday to wrap up his bogey-free third round at 7-under 63 and take a three-shot lead over Ryan Palmer heading into the final 18 holes of the BMW Championship.
On Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Horschel had a 6-iron in hand on the 18th fairway and a chance to win or force a playoff, but he chunked the shot, made bogey and settled for a disappointing second-place tie.
“It happened,” said Horschel, who stands at 13-under 197. “It’s not a big deal. Just a bad swing at the wrong time. You can’t dwell on things like that.”
Five days later, he gave himself a cushion at the third of the four FedEx Cup playoff events, rolling in a 22 footer for birdie on 14, then an 8-foot birdie on 15 to vault into the lead. He closed it out with the long one on 18 – the uphill, par-4 477-yard closing hole that is the third toughest on the course and has surrendered only 18 birdies all week.
Horschel had one of 14 rounds of 67 or better at mile-high Cherry Hills, where soaking rains and cool weather over the last two days have softened the course and chipped away at some of its defences. There were 15 67s or better through the first two days. The course played 1.7 shots easier Saturday than it did Thursday.
“The greens are so much more soft than the first day,” said Morgan Hoffman, who briefly flirted with 59 but had to settle for an 8-under 62. “You can really throw it at the flags and keep it there.”
Masters champion Bubba Watson shot 66 to draw into a third-place tie at 8 under with U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, who made seven birdies over the last 12 holes to shoot 64.
“Should have been eight,” said Kaymer, who three-putted from inside 20 feet on the par-5 17th and settled for par.
Wasn’t the worst display on the greens, though.
Rory McIlroy made a 60-footer on the fourth to get into a brief tie for the lead but gave all that back and more with a four-putt from inside of 5 feet on No. 12 – bringing gasps from the crowd. It was McIlory’s first triple-bogey or worse since the first hole of last year’s BMW Championship.
“I completely misread the first one,” he said. “Then, just hit a bad put the second, and then the third one, I was just going for a tap-in and just lost concentration.”
The world’s top-ranked player shot 2-over 72 and goes into Sunday nine shots off the lead.
Second-round leader Sergio Garcia also struggled. He lipped out a 4-foot par putt on No. 7 – the hole he eagled on Friday – and closed out his round with an approach shot that struck a fan in the grandstand. His 2-over 72 left him seven off the lead.
Playing in the same group with those two stars was Palmer, who shrugged it off and shot 3 under, closing with a 30-foot birdie on 18 to pull within three of Horschel.
“Rory, he’s No. 1 in the world, and Sergio has been up there for years,” Palmer said. “So, for me to come out and hang in there and play well, I’m taking the next step in my career, I think.”
Palmer came into the week at 37th in the FedEx Cup standings and a good finish will put him in the 30-man field for next week’s Tour Championship, where a $10 million bonus is at stake.
He had a share of the lead most of the day, until Horschel started going off during the last 90 minutes.
“I was watching (the scoreboard) and yelling at him from the fairway to stop, but it didn’t work,” Palmer said.
They’ll play together Sunday, in the final group along with Kaymer.
On the sideline Sunday will be Phil Mickelson, who withdrew after finishing the second round 14 shots off the lead, and Keegan Bradley, who made the difficult decision to withdraw because he didn’t feel right about a drop he made near the 18th green on Thursday.
“It’s eating me alive,” Bradley said.
The decision could be costly. Bradley came into the week ranked 28th, and depending on how Sunday goes, he could lose his spot in the top 30 and a chance at the $10 million.
Right now, Horschel looks like as good a bet as any to win it. He came into the week ranked 20th.
“There were a lot more positives from last week to take than just one bad swing on the last hole,” Horschel said. “So, I knew coming in that I was going to play well.”
Canada’s Graham DeLaet is tied for seventh at 5-under 205. The Weyburn, Sask. native carded a 69 Saturday and will need to climb a few spots Sunday in order to qualify for the TOUR Championship. He’s currently projected to finish the week 32nd on the FedEx Cup standings.
Brooke Henderson on top of the world
PERTH, Australia – Minjee Lee turned professional Sunday, a day after leading Australia to a comeback victory in Japan in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.
The 18-year-old Lee, No. 1 in the world amateur golf ranking and 82nd overall, made the announcement in a light-hearted video with Matthew Pavlich, captain of the Fremantle Australian Rules football team.
Lee will make her first appearance as a professional next week in the Evian Championship in France.
Born in Perth and a member of the Royal Fremantle Golf Club, Lee won the 2012 U.S. Junior Girls’, the 2013 and 2004 Australian Women’s Amateur titles and the 2014 Victorian Open.
She was low amateur at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California in April in her first start in a major championship, and received the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 women’s amateur this year.
Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. will jump from second to first in the amateur ranking. The 16-year-old won the individual title in Japan Saturday, beating second-place Lee by three strokes, and leading Canada to a second-place finish.