Hadwin paired with Sungjae Im in opening Presidents Cup match
MELBOURNE, Australia – Tiger Woods deferred the first pick for pairings in the Presidents Cup, and then made sure he was in the opening match Thursday against the Australian who led qualifying for the International team at Royal Melbourne.
Woods is the first playing captain since Hale Irwin in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, and first captain to be pick himself with a wild-card selection after winning in Japan for his 82nd career PGA Tour victory.
Woods said Steve Stricker, one of his three assistants, would serve as captain while he was playing. Stricker was the U.S. captain at the 2017 Presidents Cup.
The Americans are defending champions and had the first pick who they wanted for the first of five fourballs matches. Instead, Woods let International captain Ernie Els start, and Els sent out Marc Leishman with Joaquin Niemann of Chile, one of a record-tying seven rookies on his team.
Patrick Reed, the subject of so much conversation this week from his rules violation in the Bahamas last week, is in the fourth spot with Webb Simpson. They play Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan.
All five of the U.S. partnerships are new for a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup.
Dustin Johnson, who competes for the first time since Aug. 25 at the Tour Championship, has played with Matt Kuchar in various team events. This time he will have Presidents Cup newcomer Gary Woodland, giving the U.S. a big-hitting team on the short, fast track of Royal Melbourne. They will face Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen.
In the other matches, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay give the Americans an all-rookie team against Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im, while Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau face Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An.
Woods opted to sit out Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler, the last addition to the U.S. team when Brooks Koepka had to withdraw with a knee injury. Els left out Li Haotong and Cameron Smith, one of three Aussies on the International team.
Friday’s second session features five foursomes matches, with four matches of each format on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Key for the International team is a strong start. The Americans have dominated this event, winning 10 out of 12 times and tying one event in South Africa. More telling of the one-sided nature of these matches is that the Americans have not trailed after any session since the second day in 2005.
“Whoever is out there, it’s the most important match of the week for them,” Scott said. “We have to get off to a good start – as long as we can hang with them. Tomorrow is not super important, but our team doesn’t need to be chasing its tail out here. We don’t need to be mounting a huge comeback.”
Patrick Reed still the talk of the Presidents Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia – As if being the first playing captain in 25 years at the Presidents Cup weren’t enough, Tiger Woods filled yet another role Tuesday at Royal Melbourne.
This wasn’t necessarily by design.
Woods had Patrick Reed in his group for the first full practice round for a U.S. team still trying to shake off the jet lag from a 23-hour flight from the Bahamas.
“It’s always great playing with Tiger because he kind of frees you up,” Reed said. “Everyone’s focused on what Tiger’s doing.”
Woods got plenty of love from the fans, many fearing they might never get a chance to see him Down Under after his career was in jeopardy from four back surgeries. Woods won the Australian Masters at nearby Kingston Heath in 2009 and made the clinching putt in 2011 the last time the Presidents Cup was at Royal Melbourne.
Not that Reed was ignored.
He was the biggest topic on the first day of interviews because of his rules violation last week at the Hero World Challenge when he twice scooped away sand behind his ball while playing from a waste area. Reed was penalized two shots after seeing the video. He says it wasn’t intentional and he wasn’t helped; he didn’t feel or see his club scrape back the sand; and the camera angle didn’t show his club far enough behind the ball.
Fans didn’t wait until the start of the matches Thursday to needle him.
Reed played in a foursome with Woods, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay. As he prepared to tee off, a fan in the bleachers said, “Now on the tee, The Excavator.”
Reed turned toward the fan and tipped his cap, then drilled his iron down the fairway.
Eleven of the 15 players and captains who were available for interviews Tuesday were asked about Reed. That included Reed, and one of the questions directed to him was, “You didn’t cheat?”
A closer look at Patrick Reed’s two-stroke penalty during Round 3 of the Hero World Challenge. pic.twitter.com/z2aqkajnYq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 7, 2019
“No, of course not,” Reed replied.
He stood patiently before the largest group of media, answering every question about what happened, whether it bothers him to hear the word “cheat” bandied about or if he even cares what people think of him.
Reed just wants to get on with the Presidents Cup, and his teammates felt the same way.
“That’s something that’s great about Patrick is he’s been a great team player and he’s always wanted to win points for the team,” Justin Thomas said. “So I think the only way it could become a distraction is what the headlines are and how much we read into it. We’re not here to read articles and get into this or that. We are here to try to win points for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup. … It’s in the past. And I understand it’s going to be something that continues to get brought up, but none of us worry about it.”
That didn’t stop Thomas.
He was in the bunker on one hole, stood up to the shot and purposely took two practice swings that swiped away sand, then stood there laughing before dropping the ball elsewhere.
“It’s all in good fun,” Thomas said. “We needle each other all the time but it’s never anything personal.”
Still to be determined is whether it becomes personal to anyone else, inside or outside the ropes.
Marc Leishman was outspoken last week after seeing the Reed violation on television from the Australian Open. Asked about it again Tuesday, he said, “I only saw what everyone else saw. I guess we’ve all made up our own minds about it.”
“I think we’re just going to let that one go and try and beat him on the course,” Leishman said. “I think we’ve said enough, or I’ve said enough about it. I don’t need to add any fuel to the fire. … We know we have to play well to beat the Americans, and that’s what we’re preparing for.”
This is a big year for the International team, led by Ernie Els. It has only one victory in the 25 years since the Presidents Cup was created to give players from outside Europe matches styled after the Ryder Cup. That was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, the only other time the matches were held in December.
The underdog label, even for a home game, has never fit so well. The International team has seven rookies, with Adam Scott the highest-ranked player at No. 18. The average world ranking of the American team is 12.3.
“This week, this is probably the best chance we will have with this golf course, this crowd, and I think the way our guys are playing,” Louis Ooshtuizen said. “It’s no fun going out and everyone is saying, `They’re just going to run over them again.”’
Woods is required to play at least once before the 12 singles matches Sunday. He paired himself with Thomas for the opening round of the Bahamas, and it appears likely they will be partners, particularly with Cantlay and Reed having played together in the team event in New Orleans the last few years.
Or maybe he will play again with Reed, after having gone 0-2 at the Ryder Cup last year.
Either way, Woods is sure to draw a crowd.
“It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, I think people are going to root for him,” Thomas said.
Canada’s Hadwin earns Presidents Cup captain’s pick
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia – Ernie Els has selected British Columbia’s Adam Hadwin as one of his final four picks for the International Team at next month’s Presidents Cup, the captain announced today via teleconference. Hadwin joins Jason Day of Australia, Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Sungjae Im of South Korea as the final international representatives.
The Presidents Cup returns to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, December 9-15, when the International Team will take on the U.S. Team led by Captain Tiger Woods.
Hadwin will make his second consecutive Presidents Cup appearance and first as a captain’s pick. The 31-year-old finished with five top-10 finishes during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season but made his best case for a captain’s pick after finishing runner-up in his first start of the 2019-20 season at the Safeway Open. That was followed up with a T4 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
“With this Presidents Cup approaching and me starting to play some good golf again, I was just hungry for a second chance,” Hadwin said. “That’s not how I would like my contribution to The Presidents Cup to be remembered and I’m looking forward to having a second chance down at Royal Melbourne, a part of an incredible International Team, and hopefully we can right some of the wrongs that we’ve had in the past and do Captain Els proud.”
The Abbotsford, British Columbia, native is just one of three Canadians to compete in the Presidents Cup, joining 2019 captain’s assistant Mike Weir and Graham DeLaet.
Hadwin finished with a 0-2-1 record in his Presidents Cup debut at Liberty National.
The International Team has 22 previous Presidents Cup appearances amongst its members with six players making their Presidents Cup debuts, which matches the second-most first-timers in team history (7, 2013).
Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer, Haotong Li, Cameron Smith and C.T. Pan round out the rest of the international team. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was strongly considered by Els to join the team but just missed the final cut.
“Between (Hadwin) and Corey Conners, it was a very, very tight race,” said Els. “One of the difficult calls I had to make was to Corey. He was very gracious and he wished us good luck heading into these matches.
“But Adam, I love his game. He’s just very solid all around. There’s not really any weakness there.”
Conners missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship but then tied for 13th at the Safeway Open, tied for 12th at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, tied for sixth at the ZOZO Championship and tied for 20th at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions. He’s ranked 55th in the world _ one spot below Niemann _ and 24th on the FedExCup rankings.
Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay will represent the United States. Tiger Woods will announce his four captain’s picks _ potentially including himself _ on Thursday.
Captain Els will lead the youngest International Team in Presidents Cup history, with the average age of his 12 players totaling just over 29 years old. This is the fourth consecutive International Team that has been younger than the previous team.
Let’s get it! ??#PresidentsCup https://t.co/UeKUYkoBKe
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 7, 2019
Canadians in the Presidents Cup
| Player | Teams | All-time Record | Highlights |
| Mike Weir | 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 | 13-9-2 | Beat Phil Mickelson, 4 & 3, in singles in 2000. Beat Tiger Woods, 1 up, in 2007. |
| Graham DeLaet | 2013 | 3-1-1 | Beat Jordan Spieth, 1 up, in singles. |
| Adam Hadwin | 2017 | 0-2-1 | Halved his fourball match with Hideki Matsuyama against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. |
U.S. Team Captain Tiger Woods announces four captain’s picks
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia – With the 13th Presidents Cup set to begin in just over a month at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, the final four players for the U.S. Team were determined today as U.S. Team Captain Tiger Woods announced his four captain’s picks. Woods chose Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland and himself, making him the second-ever playing captain in Presidents Cup history.
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, December 9-15, when the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, will take on the U.S. Team, led by Captain Woods.
For the first time in Presidents Cup history, each captain makes four captain’s picks instead of two. With these picks, the U.S. Team has 21 previous Presidents Cup appearances amongst its members with five players making their Presidents Cup debuts.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods (finished No. 13 in the U.S. Team standings) will become the Presidents Cup’s second-ever playing captain (Hale Irwin, 1994) and make his ninth career Presidents Cup appearance. Woods has a Presidents Cup record of 24-15-1 since his first appearance on the 1998 U.S. Team, and he is one of five players to earn a perfect 5-0-0 record during a single event (2009).
His 24 matches won ranks second all-time to Phil Mickelson’s 26 and his six victories in Singles matches are the most in the event’s history. Woods also holed the winning putt for the U.S. Team in 2009, 2011 (at Royal Melbourne) and 2013 – the only player to clinch the Cup three times.
At the conclusion of his 2018-19 season in mid-August, Woods underwent arthroscopic knee surgery the following week to repair minor cartilage damage in his left knee. He made his first start of the 2019-20 season at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in late October. Woods opened with rounds of 64-64 and held at least a share of the lead after each round en route to a three-stroke victory in Japan for his 82nd PGA TOUR title that tied him with Sam Snead for most in TOUR history.
“As captain, I’m going to choose Tiger Woods as the last player on the team,” Woods said. “He’s made, what, nine Cups and he’s played in Australia twice in the Presidents Cup, so this will be his third appearance as a player. It’s going to be difficult, but also I have three amazing assistants with Fred, Strick and Zach, and that helps a lot, two guys that have won Presidents Cups and one will be a future captain along the line in the near future. Three great minds that will help me when I’m playing.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I’ve been vice captain in two Cups, so understanding it and seeing it, what those roles are is a little bizarre, and seeing it from a different side is really going to help.”
Tony Finau
Tony Finau (No. 9) will make his Presidents Cup debut after narrowly missing out on one of the eight automatic qualifying spots. The 30-year-old recorded another consistent season on the PGA TOUR in 2018-19 that resulted in six top-10 finishes in 25 starts and his third consecutive TOUR Championship appearance.
Finau began his 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open where his T9 finish was highlighted by a third-round 62 at TPC Summerlin. His lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.
Finau competed for the United States at the 2018 Ryder Cup, where he finished with a 2-1-0 record.
“Extremely pumped and excited to add my talent to the mix of guys and to play for Tiger,” Finau said. “It was a goal of mine to start this season and I know I wanted to just have the opportunity to play and play for Tiger. So I was very pleased to get that phone call. It’s one that I’ll remember forever and I’m excited, again, to join the team and honored, honored to get that call from Tiger.”
“This will be his first Presidents Cup; he played in the Ryder Cup last year. So he’s been around it, he’s understood it, and what a great team guy and a pleasure and just an overall genuinely nice guy,” Woods said. “Everyone on this team wants to play with Tony. He can play either format, which is great, so we look forward to having him part of this team.”
Patrick Reed
Back for his third consecutive Presidents Cup, Patrick Reed (No. 12) will join the U.S. Team as a captain’s pick for the first time.
Following a 1-2-1 performance in his debut in 2015, Reed rebounded in 2017 and teamed with Jordan Spieth to earn 3.5 points before falling to Louis Oosthuizen, 1-up, in Singles. His overall Presidents Cup record sits at 4-3-2.
Reed earned his seventh career PGA TOUR victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST to go along with four other top-10 finishes during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season.
Through two starts in the 2019-20 season, Reed has showed signs of rounding back into form with a T17 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP that was followed by a T8 at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
Known for his match-play prowess, Reed has competed in every team event for the United States since the 2014 Ryder Cup.
“For me personally, I live for events like the President’s Cup and Ryder Cup,” Reed said. “I enjoy every minute of the competition, the fans and playing for our country. It means so much to me to be a part of this team, and I’m going to do everything I can to help the USA bring home the Presidents Cup.”
“This is a person that is as fiery as they come and he’s bleeding red, white, and blue and he will do anything to get points for you, and that’s what we want,” Woods said. “We want points, and he’s a great team guy in there because he knows that when he goes out on that golf course, he’s going to give you absolutely everything he has, and that’s admirable, and the guys are looking forward to embracing him and having him be a part of this team.”
Gary Woodland
Gary Woodland (No. 10) will make his Presidents Cup debut following his most successful season on the PGA TOUR that yielded two runner-up finishes to go along with his fourth career victory at the U.S. Open.
In five starts following the U.S. Open, Woodland finished no better than T31 and fell out of the top-8 in the U.S. Team standings. Through three starts during the 2019-2020 season, however, Woodland collected two top-5 finishes at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES (T3) and the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP (5th), where he was paired with Captain Woods for the final two rounds.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am. I’ve been close to making a lot of teams and I have never made one,” Woodland said. “It’s been a goal at the start of every year to make that team…I miss the team atmosphere. I want to get in that locker room and see the guys. That’s what I’m looking forward to, and on top of that, representing your country and you’re playing for Tiger Woods, that’s pretty special.”
“What he displayed this year at Pebble Beach in winning the U.S. Open, that was awfully special, and we’ve all known the talent that he has had, and he’s just now figuring it out and putting it together, and we couldn’t have a better, more competitive guy,” Woods said. “We all know he’s a jock that played basketball, and went with this golf thing, and it turned out all right. Again, another good dude that all the players wanted on the team.”
United States Team
Patrick Cantlay
Bryson DeChambeau
Tony Finau
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Matt Kuchar
Patrick Reed
Xander Schauffele
Webb Simpson
Justin Thomas
Gary Woodland
Tiger Woods
David Hearn ties for 8th at Bermuda Championship
SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda – Brendon Todd ran away with the Bermuda Championship on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title, shooting a 9-under 62 after flirting with a sub-60 round at mostly calm Port Royal Golf Club.
“I’m thrilled, over the moon,” said Todd, his career once nearly ended by full-swing yips. “A year ago, I was talking to my manager about potentially opening up another business and not sure if I was going to keep playing. So, to turn it around in one year and regain status and then have a big win this like this is just a dream come true and hopefully a springboard to a really long, successful career out here.”
Two months after regaining his tour card in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Todd earned a two-year exemption, $540,000 and spots at Kapalua, The Players Championship and the PGA Championship. He won the 2014 Byron Nelson for first PGA Tour title, then went 100 starts before breaking through again.
Needing to birdie the final two holes to shoot 59, Todd missed a 20-foot birdie try on the par-5 17th and closed with a bogey after taking three shots to reach the green on the par-4 18th. He finished at 24-under 260 for a four-stroke victory over Harry Higgs in the first-year event.
Two strokes behind Higgs entering the round, Todd opened with a par, then birdied the next seven. The 34-year-old former University of Georgia player also birdied Nos. 10, 11 and 15.
“I had probably one of the best range warm-ups I’ve had in a little while,” Todd said. “I think I told my caddie that’s the best my swing’s felt in 10 years, but in reality it’s probably the best it’s felt ever because I’m a much better ball-striker than I was 10 years ago and in college and even during the times where I was winning tournaments. My goal was just to go out there and play my game, play aggressively, and just fire away, try and birdie every hole.”
He will jump from 525th in the world ranking to inside the top 190.
“You turn into a fan,” Higgs said. “Like, I turned to Mike (caddie Carrick) after he birdied 11, ‘This guy might shoot 56 today.’ Every shot he hit was just perfect, every putt he hit was perfect. It was fun to watch. It was hard to focus because I was almost cheering him on the whole time, like I want to see how good this is going to be for him.”
Higgs closed with a 68, making a double bogey on the short par-5 seventh.
“Brendon took the pressure off of making a double on a reachable par 5,” Higgs joked. “It was pretty easy after that, just kind of get back to what I was doing, hitting it where you’re supposed to.”
The former SMU player also had an eagle on the par-5 17th. He has made six starts as a rookie after winning on the Korn Ferry Tour and finishing fifth on the developmental tour’s regular-season points list to earn a PGA Tour card.
Brian Gay (67), Hank Lebioda (63), Scottie Scheffler (66) and Aaron Wise (65) tied for third at 18 under.
Canadian David Hearn posted a final-round 66 to finish at 15 under par in a tie for eighth.
McIlroy wins HSBC Champions in a playoff over Schauffele
SHANGHAI – Given another shot at winning the HSBC Champions, Rory McIlroy delivered his best of the day.
Even though he never trailed over the last 14 holes Sunday, and he didn’t make a bogey all weekend, McIlroy felt fortunate to be standing on the tee at the par-5 18th in a playoff with defending champion Xander Schauffele.
On the final hole in regulation, McIlroy thought his drive was in the water, relieved to find it was a foot from the red hazard line.
After five hours of an exquisite battle among McIlroy, Schauffele and Louis Oosthuizen, the pivotal moment was when Schauffele reached into a hat on the 18th tee for a white slip of paper with “2” written on it. That meant McIlroy would go first in the playoff.
And there was no doubt about his next two shots.
He followed a soaring drive down the middle of the fairway with a 4-iron from 223 yards into the wind to 25 feet that set up a two-putt birdie for the victory.
“If anything over the last few years … for the most part, I’ve been able to get the best out of myself when I’ve needed it, and that’s been a learning curve for me,” McIlroy said. “But I’ve had enough experiences, and I’ve got a lot of great memories to draw back on. There’s so many shots that I’ve hit under pressure that I can draw on.”
He added another one at Sheshan International.
And he needed every one of them to hold off a bold performance by Schauffele, who spent four days trying to recover from the flu and nearly left Shanghai as the only player to win back-to-back in the HSBC Champions.
“I tried my best. Played great,” Schauffele said. “I beat him on the day just to get in a playoff, and unfortunately I couldn’t pull it off. I would have much rather played a par 3 for a playoff. He’s the best driver in our game. Couldn’t be happier for him. Like I said, I played great all week, fought. It was nice to have a chance.”
McIlroy did everything right, closing with a 4-under 68 and going bogey-free over the last 39 holes he played.
Schauffele made him do a little more with birdies on two of the last four holes for a 66 to force a playoff at 19-under 269. That was as close as it got. Schauffele tugged his tee shot into thick rough near a bunker, laid up and narrowly missed a 12-foot birdie putt.
McIlroy won for the fourth time this year. It was his third World Golf Championships title, and his first since the Match Play at Harding Park in 2015.
“Xander pushed me the whole way, or all 73 holes we played together this week,” McIlroy said. “We played every round. He played great. He was battling a flu all week, wasn’t feeling his best, and so the calibre of golf he played this week, it takes some doing. He birdied the last to get into the playoff, and then I produced two of the best shots of the day when I needed it, which was really cool.”
McIlroy moves a little closer to Brooks Koepka at No. 1 in the world with one tournament left, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai the week before Thanksgiving to close out what already has been a special year. This is the fourth time McIlroy has won at least four times in a season.
He cannot catch Koepka this year even if McIlroy were to win in Dubai.
“I’m getting there,” McIlroy said. “This win definitely helps and if I can get another win by the end of the year, I’ll be feeling pretty good going into 2020.”
Louis Oosthuizen birdied his opening two holes to set the early target, and he was tied with McIlroy until a tee shot into the trees on the ninth, and a chip that didn’t reach the fairway, leading to bogey. Oosthuizen made another bogey on the 11th that effectively dropped him out of the race.
“You just can’t give away holes,” Oosthuizen said.
McIlroy took a two-shot lead with a bit of fortune on the par-5 14th. His second shot landed near the back pin but bounced hard into thick rough. His chip looked to be running some 10 feet by the hole, except that it hit the pin and left him a short birdie putt.
More fortune awaited on the 18th hole. One shot ahead of Schauffele, who was in the fairway, McIlroy went right and watched the ball bound off the hill and settle in thick rough a foot from the red hazard line. He punched out to the fairway, but his approach was 25 feet short and he missed a birdie putt for the win.
Phil Mickelson closed with a 68 and tied for 28th. With Shugo Imahira finishing second on the Japan Golf Tour, Mickelson will drop out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since Nov. 28, 1993, the longest consecutive streak in the top 50 since the Official World Golf Ranking began in 1986.
“It was a good run,” Mickelson said. “But I’ll be back.”
Patrick Reed made one last audition as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup with a 66 to tie for eighth. He has finished among the top 20 in 10 of his last 13 starts, including a victory in the FedEx Cup playoffs. U.S. captain Tiger Woods announces his selections on Thursday.
Sungjae Im, bidding for one of four picks for the International team by Ernie Els, had a 72 and tied for 11th.
McIlroy now gets a two-week break before wrapping up his year in Dubai.
“I want to finish the year on a high note,” he said.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished tied for 20th. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 46th.
Fitzpatrick takes 1 shot lead over McIlroy in Shanghai
SHANGHAI _ Already with three victories and a career-best 17 finishes in the top 10, Rory McIlroy has put himself in position to add to those totals going into the weekend at the HSBC Champions.
He made a mess of the 16th hole Friday and escaped with bogey after hitting three tee shots (only two of them counted). He bounced back with a 5-iron to 3 feet for eagle on the final hole for a 5-under 67, leaving him one shot behind Matt Fitzpatrick.
McIlroy is happy with what he has done this year. But as he stood beneath the clubhouse at Sheshan International, he shared another number that makes him proud.
“I have top 10s in 50% of my PGA Tour starts,” McIlroy said. “To me, that’s a nice stat to know that most times you tee it up, you maybe not contend, but you’re putting yourself there.”
He was rounding off figures, but it’s no less impressive.
McIlroy, who is wrapping up his 12th full year as a pro, has finished in the top 10 in 49% of his PGA Tour starts. Tiger Woods is at 55%, while Phil Mickelson is at 32%.
Dustin Johnson, who turned pro about the same time as McIlroy and already has 20 titles on the PGA Tour, is at 37%.
McIlroy looked up his record because it’s what drives him. Winning, sure, but that starts with chances.
He has another one in Shanghai.
Fitzpatrick played bogey-free in the second round for a 67 that put him at 11-under 133. He figured to drop a shot on the 16th after a bad drive and a good idea that went bad.
He hooked his tee shot toward the trees and did well to get the ball to the back of the green, facing a tough lie with the ball nestled in deep rough. Fitzpatrick thought about chipping a 7-wood, blading a wedge or stabbing at it with his putter.
He went with the third option.
“The putter went past the ball, and the ball was still in the air _ very weird,” Fitzpatrick said.
It rolled out onto the green and caught a slope away from the cup. No matter. He holed the long par putt, hit 5-iron to 15 feet for birdie on the tough par-3 17th and got up-and-down from the fairway on the par-5 closing hole for the 36-hole lead.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele, still struggling with remnants of the flu, rallied for a 69 and was two shots behind, along with Adam Scott (69) and Sungjae Im (69).
Li Haotong of China lost ground with a 72, but he remained in the mix at three shots behind. The top eight players going into the weekend came from eight countries.
McIlroy ran off four straight birdies on the front, only for his momentum to slow. And then he was happy to only lose one shot on the 16th hole, which measures 288 yards.
McIlroy hit 3-wood so wild to the left in the trees that he hit a provisional _ a 6-iron this time _ for a lost ball.
He found it.
But he realized that by taking a penalty for an unplayable lie, getting back to the fairway would have been harder than going back to the tee. So, he hit a third tee shot, a lob wedge to 8 feet and one putt for a bogey.
“I tried to hit the same shot as yesterday, but the wind was more off the left,” McIlroy said. “I knew I had to caress one a little bit, and I caressed it dead left. Made a good 5.”
Schauffele is moderately shocked to be in the mix considering how badly he has felt this week, often turning to cough into the crook of his elbow after hitting shots. He couldn’t find the fairway and limited the damage with his short game on the front nine, then cleaned it up on the back nine with three birdies.
No one has won back-to-back in the HSBC Champions since it became a World Golf Championship in 2009, and Schauffele might be the best bet extending an American streak of seven victories in this series.
“I was 1 over on the front nine and was not looking like a real golfer _ or at least a professional golfer _ on that front stretch,” Schauffele said. “Happy that my feet got under me on the back nine, and just sort of had a little bit of a better time.”
Im, looking more and more like a pick for the Presidents Cup next week, was around the lead all day until a bogey from the bunker on the 17th and failing to make birdie on the 18th. Scott birdied three straight holes in the middle of his back nine to stay in the hunt.
Conners tied for 7th early at HSBC Champions
SHANGHAI – Li Haotong has come a long way in the HSBC Champions, which he realized before hitting any of his 64 shots Thursday that carried him to a one-shot lead.
Standing next to him on the tee was Phil Mickelson, a longtime golf idol. Li was part of the HSBC junior program when this World Golf Championships event began in 2009, and he posed for a photo with Lefty.
“My idol then, and my friend now,” Li said. “Kind of fun.”
He found all sorts of enjoyment on as perfect a day as can be found at Sheshan International, with warm weather and surprisingly calm conditions. Li felt intimidated the first time he played this event when he was 18, and especially as a 20-year-old in 2015 when he was one shot out of the lead going into the final round.
He enjoyed every minute Thursday, and he gave the home crowd plenty to cheer with his 8-under 64, by two shots his lowest round at Sheshan International.
Li opened with two birdies and finished the back nine with two birdies. And after his lone mistake on the par-4 first hole, he responded with a 4-iron that set up eagle and led to the loudest cheer of a calm afternoon.
“Obviously, it would be great joy for Chinese golfers and Chinese golf fans to have a Chinese player winning a WGC-HSBC Champions here in China,” Li said. “But for the next three days, anything could happen.”
He was one shot ahead of Victor Perez of France.
Among those who shots behind were defending champion Xander Schauffele and Adam Scott, who both stumbled at the end.
Scott hit a thin shot out of a fairway bunker on No. 9 into the water right of the green and had to get up-and-down to salvage bogey for his 66. Schauffele, sick most of the week and still hoarse, had a wedge to the par-5 eighth and stayed on the upper shelf, leading to a three-putt bogey.
Schauffele had no complaints after a week battling the flu. His fever only broke on Tuesday, though his voice remains strained and his strength not quite up to speed. But he surged into a share of the lead with nine birdies until one last mistake set him back.
“Maybe I should just keep my flu going and if I can rattle off a 66 every day, I think that would be enough,” Schauffele said. “I think a couple more nights of sleep, I’ll be in better shape. But it was a dream start with what things were looking like.”
Sungjae Im and Matt Fitzpatrick also were at 66.
Rory McIlroy had three bogeys on the back nine and was going nowhere at even par until he ran off four straight birdies on the front and got in the mix quick with a 67.
“The last few tournaments I’ve played, I’ve had a bad opening round and then been trying to play catch up,” McIlroy said. “At least now, I’m right in the thick of things from the start, which is a better place to be.”
The HSBC Champions is the final event before Tiger Woods and Ernie Els make their wild-card picks for the Presidents Cup, and Im certainly didn’t hurt his chances with another good start.
Neither did Corey Conners of Canada, who was near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day. He finished with a bogey for a 67. Even so, the Canadian is coming off solid weeks in South Korea and Japan, and he hopes another good one in China is enough to get the attention of Els for the International team that goes to Royal Melbourne in December.
“It’s been on my mind,” Conners said. “I want to make it as difficult as possible for him not to think of me.”
Mickelson, in danger of falling out of the top 50 for the first time in nearly 26 years, opened with a 71.
Sheshan International is in prime condition with thick rough and firm fairways and greens. It’s a stronger test than in recent years, though the calm conditions allowed for so many low scores. Nearly one-third of the field broke 70.
“No wind today is giving a false idea of how tough the course is,” Scott said.
It was plenty tough for Hideki Matsuyama, who won here in 2016 and is coming off a runner-up finish to Tiger Woods last week in the Zozo Championship in Japan. He managed only two birdies, finished with a double bogey and shot 75, ending a streak of six straight rounds in the 60s.
Li didn’t feel as though he as in great form coming into this World Golf Championship, but his comfort level – on the course and in front of the fans – was evident.
He practically grew up with the HSBC Champions, from participating in its successful junior program to playing in it the last six years. He is all grown up now, with two European Tour victories and making the Presidents Cup team for the first time.
“It’s always good to have a feeling that you know that you are leading, especially in the first two days,” Li said. “But what I only want right now is to have a shot at the title on the final nine holes Sunday.”
McIlroy looking to end a great year on a big note
SHANGHAI – Already the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour player of the year, Rory McIlroy has found plenty of motivation toward the back end of the year.
Most of it is geared toward reaping rewards next year.
McIlroy is coming off a tie for third last week in Japan, a tournament he was never going to win after a bad start. He still managed his 17th top 10 of the year out of 23 tournaments worldwide, inching a little closer to Brooks Koepka at No. 1 in the world.
“I don’t think I’ll get there by the end of the year,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the HSBC Champions, the final World Golf Championships event of the year. “But if I play well the next few weeks, I’ll have a great platform going into next year.”
He is the leading figure at Sheshan International, where the field is slightly weaker than years past because Koepka and Dustin Johnson, two regulars at the HSBC Champions, are home in Florida recovering from knee issues.
Koepka will not play another official event the rest of the year. He withdrew from the CJ Cup in South Korea when his foot slipped on a piece of wet cement leaving a tee box and he planted hard with his left knee, which had received stem cell treatment during his off-season.
He chose not to play the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, and still to be determined is whether he plays the Presidents Cup. McIlroy has the HSBC Champions and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, with hopes of narrowing the gap.
McIlroy started the year at No. 8 and moved up to No. 2 through his three victories—The Players Championship, Tour Championship and RBC Canadian Open—along with runner-up finishes in two World Golf Championships.
“I’ve achieved most things that I’ve wanted to this year,” McIlroy said. “Just want to finish the year off strongly because I feel the year that I’ve had deserves a finish like that.”
What he didn’t achieve was winning a major, making it five years since his last major tile. He also has gone four years since capturing a WGC event, though he has performed well in them this year – runner-up to Johnson in Mexico and Koepka in Memphis, a bitter loss in the fourth round to Tiger Woods in Texas at the Match Play.
Xander Schauffele is the defending champion at the HSBC Champions, and he’ll try to win again without much of a voice. Schauffele got sick during the ZoZo Championship in Japan last week and withdrew from the pro-am Wednesday to try to be in fighting shape.
The field also features resurgent Hideki Matsuyama, who tied for third in South Korea and was runner-up to Woods last week before a frenzied gallery in his native Japan; and Justin Rose, who also wants to finish the year strong for other reasons.
Rose, who was No. 1 in the world for the opening two months of the year, has gone the opposite direction of McIlroy. He is at No. 8, and hopes to get back on track at the tournament where he rallied from eight shots behind to win in 2017.
He is at No. 29 in the Race to Dubai, a long shot to win, although he was quick to point out that was the position he was in two years ago. He won in Shanghai, he won the following week in Turkey and nearly pulled it off in Dubai.
“I’ve probably got to win the last three to challenge the guys that are doing really well, but that’s the situation I put myself in 2017 and I very nearly did it,” Rose said. “Looking forward to going back to the well and trying again.”
One change this year for Rose is his travel schedule. Unlike 2017, when he played two weeks, flew home to the Bahamas and then returned to Dubai, he is going to London after two weeks to ease the wear-and-tear of travel.
The HSBC Champions is the last chance for players to audition as wild-card picks for the Presidents Cup, and most everyone on the bubble is here – Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Kevin Kisner and Chez Reavie for the Americans, a longer list of International players from Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An of South Korea, Adam Hadwin and Corey Conners of South Africa, Justin Harding and Erik van Rooyen of South Africa.
Reavie is among 18 players who have gone to all three PGA Tour events on the Asia swing.
Tiger Woods ties Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR victory record at 82
INZAI CITY, Japan – Tiger Woods won the Zozo Championship to tie Sam Snead’s PGA Tour record of 82 victories.
The 43-year-old American played the final seven holes Monday in the rain-hit tournament, completing a 3-under 67 to beat local favourite Hideki Matsuyama by three strokes at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
“It’s just crazy. It’s a lot,” Woods said. “I’ve been able to be consistent most of my career. … Today was one of those days where I was able to pull it out.”
Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee two months ago – his fifth on the same problem joint. He was making his first start in his 23rd season on the PGA Tour.
“I can still manage my way around the golf course,” Woods said. “I know how to play. I was able to do that this week.”
The fourth round was suspended because of darkness Sunday, and Woods took a three-stroke lead over Matsuyama into Monday in the first official PGA Tour event in Japan.
He bogeyed his first hole Monday, the par-4 12th, but was solid the rest of the way with birdies on Nos. 14 and 18 to finish at 19-under 261. Matsuyama also closed with a 67
Rory McIlroy, the highest ranked player in the field, completed his round with two birdies for a 67 to tie for third at 13 under with Sungjae Im. Im had a 65.
Woods opened with consecutive 64s, with a day off in between because of rain. He had a 66 on Sunday in the third round.
“It’s been a long week,” Woods said. “Five days at the top of the leaderboard is a long time.”
Does it get any better than this guys?! ??#PGATOUR #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/gsD8KEhby0
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) October 28, 2019
As the U.S. Presidents Cup captain, Woods was asked about picking himself for the team,
“I think the player got the captain’s attention,” Woods said.