Koepka off to record setting start at PGA Championship
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Three majors in two years, and Brooks Koepka can still feel as though he has something to prove.
He delivered again on golf’s biggest stage.
And this time, Tiger Woods was along for the ride.
Koepka beat up on brawny Bethpage Black for a record-setting start to his title defence in the PGA Championship. With a 40-foot birdie to start his round and a birdie putt from just inside 35 feet at the end, he shot a 7-under 63 to break the course record and become the first player to shoot 63 in the same major twice.
“That was one of the best rounds I’ve played probably as a professional,” Koepka said. “This golf course is brutal.”
He was 10 shots better than the average score in the opening round, but only one better than Danny Lee on a day when only 16 players broke par, the fewest for the first round of the PGA Championship since 2008 at Oakland Hills.
It was only one round, but enough to make the Masters that Woods won last month feel more nostalgic than a sign of more to come.
“I felt like I won this last year. I’m playing good,” Koepka said. “It was great that Tiger won Augusta, but I mean, we’re at a new week now. … Obviously, everyone is going to be cheering for him, and it’s going to be loud, especially if he makes a putt. You’ve just got to keep battling.”
Thousands of fans who trudged across muddied paths to the far end of Bethpage Black on Thursday morning were drawn to Woods, a Masters champion again, announced on the 10th tee as the PGA champion from 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007.
The introduction took long enough to remind everyone what Woods has done in the game.
Koepka then showed what he has done lately – back-to-back U.S. Open titles, a PGA Championship and an ideal start in his bid to join Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Lee said. “I mean, have you seen him playing U.S. Opens and PGA Championships in the last three years?”
Woods looked rusty early, inspired in the middle and sloppy late in his first competition since his emotionally draining victory at the Masters.
He opened with a pair of double bogeys on the back nine and ruined a torrid start to the front nine – two birdies and a 30-foot eagle in a four-hole stretch – with a pair of three-putt bogeys. That gave him a 72, leaving him nine shots behind and ending 12 consecutive rounds at par or better in the majors dating to the U.S. Open last summer.
“It wasn’t as clean as I’d like to have it, for sure,” Woods said.
Tommy Fleetwood had a 67, while the group at 68 included Pat Perez, who played a practice round with Koepka on Tuesday. Jordan Spieth overcame a double bogey on the 10th hole for a 69 and was in a group that included Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day.
“The course is not easy, but Brooks obviously made it look real easy,” Perez said. “I saw that on Tuesday when I played with him. I actually congratulated him on his win.”
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., both shot 2-over 72 to tie for 51st.
But it’s far from over, even before Lee made his afternoon move to cut into the lead. Fowler was bemused when asked how close he would have to be to Koepka heading into the final round Sunday.
“What makes you think he’s going to be leading?” Fowler said. “I would say there’s no lead really safe here.”
Koepka failed to birdie the two par 5s, missing a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 13 and scrambling for par on the easier fourth hole. He also missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 11th and an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 2. Yes, this could have been special. Then again, he also made four birdie putts of 15 feet or longer, including the long ones at the start and end of his round.
“When that putt went in on No. 10, that was kind of the momentum that set me,” Koepka said. “But I never once thought about the course record or anything. I was just trying to shoot the best I could. Simple as that. Just keep going and total them up at the end.”
He is the ninth player to open a major with 63, and only two of them went on to win – Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol in the 1980 U.S. Open and Raymond Floyd at Southern Hills in the 1982 PGA Championship.
There is a long way to go. Considering Koepka’s record in the majors – three wins and a runner-up in his last seven majors – this felt shorter. Koepka came seriously close to a bogey only one time, and he made a 10-foot par on the sixth hole.
Woods managed to get under par, but only briefly.
His opening tee shot took enough bounces to barely get into the rough, and it left him no option but to hack out. The mistake was a wedge that went over the back of the green, and Woods threw his head back knowing his mistake. His fast pitch went 6 feet by and he missed to open with a double bogey. His other double bogey came on the par-3 17th when he went into the face of a bunker, blasted out longer and took three to get down from there.
A birdie-birdie start to the front nine, and a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fourth, brought him to 1 under. And then he bogeyed three of the next four holes.
“I fought my way back around there, and unfortunately, I just didn’t keep it together at the end,” he said.
Corey Conners prepared for PGA Championship
TORONTO – There’s no doubt that Corey Conners’s life has changed since winning the Valero Texas Open nearly six weeks ago.
Monday qualifiers and doubts about where he’ll play next have given way to guaranteed tournament berths for the rest of the season, a PGA Tour card for 2020 and a spot in this week’s PGA Championship.
That higher profile comes with some other perks too, including staying at prestigious hotels when coming to Toronto for meetings and getting recognized by golf fans.
“It’s a life-changing thing to win, but I still feel like the same person,” said Conners last Thursday in an interview with The Canadian Press. “Not going to be changing up my lifestyle very much. These bonuses are really awesome, a nice treat, but I’m not going to do a whole bunch of things differently.
“Probably won’t be staying at a lot of Ritz-Carltons, keep it pretty simple with a simple lifestyle.”
Conners went straight to the Masters after winning the Texas Open – the organizers flew him, his wife Malory and his agent directly from San Antonio to Augusta, Ga. – and then played in the RBC Heritage and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He took the first week of May off, visiting Toronto for a breakfast meeting with sponsor RBC, getting in a couple of practice rounds in at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and then going to his hometown of Listowel, Ont., to see his mom and mother-in-law ahead of Mother’s Day.
That busy schedule means he hasn’t had much of a chance to absorb what the Texas Open win means for him, but there are moments where it sinks in.
“I think when we got home, back to Florida, and we were able to just sit down on our couch and think ‘wow, we won a PGA Tour event,”’ said Conners, who said he’ll put the trophy into his living room when it arrives. “I know how it is to win and how many people are trying to win week in and week out.”
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 14: Corey Conners of Canada walks on the second hole during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Another immediate benefit is a berth in the PGA Championship, the second major of the season. It’s his first time playing in the tournament, having played in the Masters as an amateur in 2015 and the U.S. Open in 2017.
This year’s PGA Championship is the first to be played in May since 1949, and the cooler temperatures at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. had players bundling up in toques, thick gloves and raingear during practice on Monday.
Conners is one of two Canadians in the field. The other is Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C.
“I grew up playing in the cold and I’ve embraced the challenge the additional challenge that brings,” Conners said. “It’s funny, whenever there’s bad weather on tour everyone I walk by they always joke ‘Oh, you must love this!’ and I’m like ‘No, it doesn’t mean we like the cold and the rain.’
“But I’m used to it. My dad used to play golf with me in miserable conditions back in Listowel. It would be pouring rain and we’d be the only people out there getting soaked in our rain suits.”
World No. 4 Rory McIlroy ready to take on RBC Canadian Open
ANCASTER, Ont. – Rory McIlroy has only been to Canada once, but he’s looking forward to possibly writing his name in the history books when he plays in the RBC Canadian Open this summer.
McIlroy’s one visit to Canada was a brief stop that featured a round at The National Golf Club in Woodbridge, Ont., with friend and former One Direction member Niall Horan in 2015.
“All of these national opens that you can play in are important,” said McIlroy on Monday, calling in to a media conference at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. “I think the older a tournament is the more prestigious it is.
“To hear that the Canadian Open is 115 years old, one of the oldest events not just on tour but in the world, that makes it pretty prestigious.”
The fourth-ranked golfer in the world also got his eye on adding another trophy to his case.
“I’ve won a couple of national opens that I’m pretty proud of,” said the Northern Irishmen. “The Irish Open, the Australian Open, the U.S., it would be nice to add the Canadian to that list also.”
Although he’ll be focused on winning the only PGA Tour event in Canada, McIlroy does hope to take in some of the local sights.
“I hear the Canadian side of Niagara Falls is better than the U.S. side, so I might have to take a trip over there,” said McIlroy, to laughter. “Apart from that, it’ll be a work week. It’ll be a work I’m practising and playing hard and trying to win the tournament.”
World No. 4 @McIlroyRory dialed into Media Day to share his thoughts on the #RBCCO and playing Hamilton Golf & Country Club ⛳️? pic.twitter.com/B2haN52b48
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) May 7, 2019
It won’t be an easy tournament to win, with arguably the deepest field in the tournament’s storied history.
World No. 3 Brooks Koepka and two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson were officially added to the RBC Canadian Open’s lineup on Monday, joining McIlroy and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson.
“Winning a national open, one that is part of my family now, would be a big deal,” said Watson, whose wife Angie is from outside of Toronto. “We’ve got two flags up at our house, so it’s a big deal. It would be a great honour.”
PGA Tour players Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Ryan Palmer, Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker have also confirmed they’ll be playing at Hamilton Golf and Country June 3-9.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., who won the Valero Texas Open on April 7, are two Canadians who are officially in the field.
Golf Canada, RBC and the PGA Tour have made a concerted effort in the past 18 months to raise the prestige of the Canadian Open by increasing the purse and changing the date of the tournament to the first week of June.
Historically, the Canadian Open was held in September, but starting in 2007 it was played in late July, the prime golf season. Unfortunately, it was also the week after the British Open, causing many of the PGA Tour’s top players to miss the tournament as they recovered from the challenging major.
This year’s event is in early June, the week before the U.S. Open, essentially turning it into a tune-up event for some of the biggest names in golf.
McIlroy acknowledged on Monday that the date change is partly what drew him to the Canadian Open.
“June was looking like it was going to be sort of quiet for me, so I wanted to play a bit,” said McIlroy. “One of my goals this year was to play more and to be more competitive and that’s really what it’s down to.
“Part of the reason I wanted to play was that I wanted to play my way into the U.S. Open the following week.”
Homa comes full circle and wins Wells Fargo Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Max Homa traded in a shovel for a ladder to get places he always thought he could reach.
Two years ago in his second try on the PGA Tour, he made only two cuts the entire season and played only one round on a Sunday. Eight months ago, he was on the verge of going back to Q-school and an uncertain future until closing with four straight birdies to make the cut in a Web.com Tour event that gave him another shot at the big leagues.
It made Sunday all that much sweeter in the Wells Fargo Championship.
In a three-way tie for the lead, in the final group on the PGA Tour for the first time, with Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia right behind him, Homa outplayed them all with a 4-under 67 for a three-shot victory at Quail Hollow and his first PGA Tour title.
“I used to say when I hit rock bottom I found a shovel and kept digging. I went to some low, low places,” he said. “I’d use a shovel and dig deeper. I went to some low, low places. I realized in that year or two when I started to play bad that my attitude was going to have to get a lot better. … I’m very proud I finally found a ladder and started climbing, because it was getting dark down there.”
Suddenly, the immediate future is bright as can be.
He has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a tee time at the PGA Championship in two weeks at Bethpage Black and a spot in the Masters next year.
A former NCAA champion at Cal, Homa has “Relentless” in block letters tattooed on his right forearm. The 28-year-old Californian also has a signed photo from former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who once told him to look at the picture and be reminded to believe in himself.
The trophy at his side, Homa’s press conference was interrupted for him to take a call from the 91-year-old Lasorda.
“I guess my whole world is different,” he said.
Golf felt so hard for Homa for so many years after he left Cal, and then he made it look so easy in a final round that made him so nervous he wanted to throw up, except when he had his hands on a golf club. He pulled away with two birdies to start the back nine for a four-shot lead. He didn’t make a bogey until it only affected the final margin. But it was a one-hour rain delay that tested Homa the most.
He was leading by three when he nearly went in the water on the 14th hole and chipped up to 6 feet when the horn sounded to stop play. With time he didn’t need on his hands, he called his fiancee and his coach and can’t remember what either of them said.
And then he returned and buried the putt.
“I knew in the back of my mind if I made that putt, I win this golf tournament,” he said.
Joel Dahmen, who pushed Homa as hard as any major champion, saved par with a tough chip over the creek for a 70 and finished three shots behind.
“I didn’t beat myself today, which was kind of the goal,” Dahmen said. “Max is playing awesome. He’s a good friend. I think we’re going to celebrate tonight.”
Homa effectively sealed it with a perfect play to the green on the par-5 15th for a two-putt birdie, and a 10-foot par putt on the 17th to keep a three-shot leading playing the tough closing hole at Quail Hollow. He made a 10-foot par there, too, and the celebration was on.
Homa finished at 15-under 269.
“Over the moon, man,” he said before going to sign his card. “It means a lot to do it under pressure, and job security is great. I haven’t had that.”
The victory was worth $1,422,000, about $454,000 more than he had made in his previous 67 starts.
Justin Rose (68) finished alone in third and moved ahead of Brooks Koepka to No. 2 in the world.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was the top Canadian. He shot a final-round 73 to finish 1-under. Fellow Abbotsford native Nick Taylor (72) was 2-over.
Rory McIlroy was primed to join Tom Weiskopf as the only three-time winners at Quail Hollow, starting the final round two shots behind. He never got anything going until it went the wrong way. He turned a 20-foot eagle attempt into a three-putt par on the par-5 seventh, failed to get up-and-down on the reachable eighth for a birdie, and then went bogey-double bogey around the turn to take himself out of the mix.
No one else was much of a threat either, just two guys who had never come remotely close to winning on the PGA Tour.
Former PGA champion Jason Dufner, part of the three-way tie for the lead to start the final round, made consecutive bogeys early and had no bearing on the final round. A double bogey on the 18th gave him a 73 and dropped him into a tie for fourth.
Rose pulled within two shots with a birdie on the par-5 10th, only to settle into a series of pars. By the time Sergio Garcia reached double digits under par, Homa was well on his way.
Homa and Dahmen were at 13 under until Dahmen blinked first. He found a fairway bunker on No. 9, couldn’t get to the green and made bogey and dropped another shot on the 11th. Homa, playing behind him in the final group, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th for a two-shot lead, made birdie from the left rough on the 11th with a 12-foot putt and escaped more trouble off the tee on the 12th with a two-putt from 80 feet.
He survived the rain delay, the nervy finish.
Homa has endured a lot more than that over the last few years.
McIlroy positioned for run at third Wells Fargo Championship; Hadwin T22
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy was in position to become the first three-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy celebrated his 30th birthday Saturday with a 3-under 68 to pull within two shots of leaders Max Homa, Jason Dufner and Joel Dahmen.
“I’m right there going into (Sunday), so I’m excited for that,” McIlroy said after a round that was delayed twice by weather. “I’m three shots closer to the lead than I was starting off the day, so that’s a good thing.”
Nobody finishes the Wells Fargo Championship better than McIlroy.
He’s been dominant on Sundays at Quail Hollow Club, which he calls one of his favourite courses. In his seven previous final rounds at the tournament he is a combined 19-under par, including a 62 in 2010 when he won the first of his two trophies.
His average final round score at the Wells Fargo is a 68.7, better than any other player. He’s trying to join Tom Weiskopf as the only three-time winners at Quail Hollow. Weiskopf won the old Kemper Open three times on this course before the tournament moved to Washington.
McIlroy has experience on his side entering Sunday, too.
He’s up against two players – Homa and Dahmen – who’ve never won on the PGA Tour, and Dufner, who is looking to break out of a lengthy slump and who appears to be just barely holding on after shooting 71 on Saturday. Pat Perez also was in contention, one shot ahead of McIlroy, but he’s coming off a torn calf muscle.
As he walked from hole to hole, McIlroy was repeatedly greeted by fans wishing him happy birthday.
“I felt the love,” he joked.
But there were no gifts for the star from Northern Ireland early in the round.
He opened with pars on his first six holes. It wasn’t until the par-5 seventh that McIlroy drained a short putt for his first birdie. He finished the round with four birdies and one bogey.
Ironically, the bogey came after his best shot of the day.
McIlroy nearly holed out from the middle of fairway 99 yards away on the par-4 12th when ball just missed rolling backward into the cup with some backspin. It appeared McIlroy was building some momentum, but the second horn sounded suspending play again as he was lining up his birdie putt and he had to go all the way back to the clubhouse again. When McIlroy returned to the course, he three-putted for bogey.
“That one sort of got me a little bit,” McIlroy said about the second delay. “But it’s the same for everyone, we just have to deal with it the best we can.”
But McIlroy pulled it together, making birdie on the short par-4 14th hole and the reachable par-5 15th hole to claw back to within two shots of the leaders, none of whom could separate themselves from the pack coming down the stretch at Quail Hollow’s difficult three closing holes called the Green Mile.
McIlroy said the key for him Sunday will be patience, something he learned after winning the Players Championship earlier this year. During that victory he started the final two rounds 2-over before battling to get on track.
“I told myself I’m right in the thick of the tournament but you have to stay patient and almost let it come to you rather than try to chase it,” McIlroy said about The Players Championship. “That was on thatgolf course. I think it’s similar here. You have to pick your spots to be aggressive and make your birdies, the par 5s, the two short par 4s. If you can do that and pick those off and you don’t make many mistakes, you know, 68 or 67’s always going to do you pretty well around here.”
It’s no surprise that McIlroy is in contention.
He’s in midst of another outstanding season. He’s made the cut in all nine events he’s entered and not finished worse than a tie for 21st,at the Masters.
Nick Taylor 1 back of leader Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy looked every bit like a player who has won twice at the Wells Fargo Championship.
He just didn’t feel like one.
Twice when he was out of position off the tee, he managed to make birdies. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after his most amazing recovery of all. And late in his round Thursday, he ran off three straight birdies for a share of the lead with Joel Dahmen at 5-under 66, his lowest start in 10 appearances at Quail Hollow.
Walking to the scoring area, he smiled and said, “Managed my game.”
His translation of that?
“Get the most out of your round, turn 70s in 66, like I did today,” he said. “I felt like I hit it like I should have shot 1- or 2-under par. I didn’t feel like it was a round that I deserved to shoot 5 under, but I got the most out of it, which is nice if I’m able to continue to do that sort of stuff.”
He wasn’t complaining. In his first start since tying for 21st at the Masters – his only finish out of the top 10 this year – McIlroy got out of trouble and made enough key putts to keep moving in the right direction. His only bogey came after a drive that bounced into a creek, and there’s no recovering when a ball is in 4 feet of water.
Dahmen, a cancer survivor who tries not to take himself too seriously, played a more steady game. Playing three groups behind the large crowd following McIlroy, he kept bogeys off his card and holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 66.
They were a shot ahead of a group that included Patrick Reed, who is having the opposite year of McIlroy. The former Masters champion has yet to finish in the top 10, and he hopes a bogey-free round like Thursday morning will be a signal that his work on his swing is done and it’s time to start hitting shots.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was the low Canadian, in a tie for third with Reed, Adam Schenk, Dylan Frittelli and Martin Laird.
Defending champion Jason Day led a large pack at 68.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was tied for 47th at even-par 71. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., were tied for 83rd at 2 over, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., were tied for 103rd at 3 over. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was 4 over to tie for 116th.
Dahmen tied for 12th at The Players Championship and earned just over $250,000, which made him feel like “the richest man alive.” He decided to grow in a moustache, which he kept for good luck until hitting a ball in the water last week at the team event in New Orleans. So he shaved.
But he’s still playing well enough to think this might be the week he at least gives himself a chance.
“I want to be in the hunt with nine to play. That’s the goal,” he said. “I haven’t really been there yet. I’m good enough to. I should be there. I should have chances by now. I just kind of need to get out of my own way and let it go.”
McIlroy was in the trees on the second hole when he punched out low and let the ball run across the sun-baked, fast fairway and onto the green about 20 feet, setting up a long birdie putt. He got out of minor tree trouble on the par-5 10th to set up a birdie. He was out of position left of the 11th fairway and hit that to 2 feet.
His best shot was from a suspect lie in the right rough, blocked by a tree, facing an elevated green with a back pin. The idea was to dump it in a front bunker and try to get up-and-down for par.
“That’s where I assumed it was going to go, but it came out perfectly, had a little more cut on it than I thought it was going to out of the rough, took a nice couple of hopes and got up there very close,” he said.
Not close enough, for he badly pushed the birdie putt.
“Probably didn’t deserve to make the putt after the tee shot,” he said.
And then in a three-hole stretch, he moved to the top of the leaderboard. It started with a long bunker shot to 6 feet for birdie on the short par-4 14th. His 3-wood on the par-5 15th went over the green and he chipped weakly to 12 feet and made the putt. And then he smashed a driver that bounced off the ridge next to a bunker and down the fairway, leaving a chip 9-iron to 8 feet for a third straight birdie.
Good golf usually goes his way at Quail Hollow.
This is where McIlroy won his first PGA Tour title in 2010, closing with a 62. He lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points two years later, and won in 2015.
“I’ve got some great memories here,” he said. “Every time I step onto this golf course, I feel like I have a chance to shoot a good score. I didn’t play my best today. I managed my game well, scrambled well. But it added up to a good number at the end of the day.”
Clear mind has Canada’s Michael Gligic sixth on points list on Web.com Tour
It’s not that Michael Gligic doesn’t care about his results anymore. He’s just learned to keep golf in its proper perspective, helping him relax on the course.
That laid-back approach has helped the Canadian stay near the top of the Web.com Tour’s rankings and close in on his first PGA Tour card. Entering play at this week’s Nashville Golf Open, Gligic is sixth in the regular-season points list, largely thanks to winning the Panama Championship.
“I used to get a little too caught up in what other people were doing, what they were shooting, what I need to shoot at the start of the week to win, or what’s the cut going to be,” said Gligic. “Now I don’t really look at the board. I just go out and play and add them up at the end and see how we did.”
Gligic’s win in Panama on Feb. 10 was a prime example of this new mindset.
He entered the final round tied for seventh, three shots back of third-round leader Ben Taylor. Gligic fired a 5-under 65, including a four-foot putt on the 18th hole, to win.
“I didn’t really have nerves because I didn’t know it was to win, I had no idea where I stood,” said Gligic. “If you watch the video of me making the three- or -four-footer, as soon as it goes in I said to my caddy ‘how did we do?’ because I had no idea.
“That’s where I want to stay. In my own little world and I’ll just go play golf and see where I how I do at the end of the week.”
Gligic is partly inspired by PGA Tour veterans Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, who have been open about the benefits of leaving their golf game on the course and being a “human being” in their down time.
“My wife Natasha’s coming down this week and regardless of what happens on Thursday we’re going to go for a nice dinner in one of the coolest cities in the United States being in Nashville,” said Gligic after taking in a practice round at the Nashville Golf & Athletic Club on Tuesday. “Have a beer somewhere, it’ll all be good.”
The top 25 players on the second-tier Web.com Tour’s points list at the end of the season earn PGA Tour cards. Given his strong start to the season, Gligic is already closing in on being mathematically guaranteed a promotion for next season.
Many Canadians on the Web.com Tour skip the RBC RBC Canadian Open in favour of playing on their regular circuit to keep earning points toward a PGA Tour card. Gligic is hoping to be in a strong enough position that he can opt into Canada’s only PGA Tour event.
The RBC Canadian Open is being held at Hamilton Golf and Country Club from June 6-9, right by Gligic’s hometown of Burlington, Ont.
“I’ve put a lot of thought into it and talked to my team and gotten a few opinions and I think we’re going to do it,” Gligic said. “I haven’t gotten a call for an exemption, I haven’t gotten anything official yet, but we’re hoping for it and if I do get the call, I’m planning on being there.
“I’m just hoping I can put a few good weeks together and lock up a PGA Tour card before the RBC Canadian Open.”
Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch, Calgary’s Ryan Yip and Toronto’s Albin Choi are the other Canadians in the field at the Nashville Golf Open.
Hearn and Power finish T5 at Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, La. – Ryan Palmer had to find a teammate if he was going to get back to New Orleans, one of his favourite PGA Tour stops for reasons ranging from the food to his friendship with Saints coach Sean Payton.
Palmer’s past partner at the Zurich Classic team event, Jordan Spieth, had changed his schedule and was taking the week off, and Palmer knew Jon Rahm’s previous teammate, Wesley Bryan, couldn’t play because of shoulder surgery. So Palmer reached out to Rahm, unsure if a 24-year-old Spaniard wanted anything to do with a Texan nearly two decades his senior.
The odd couple from different continents and generations combined for a 3-under 69 in the alternate-shot final round Sunday to win the tour’s only team event by three strokes over Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood.
“I shot him a text, hoping he would bite,” Palmer recalled. “When a 42-year-old player is calling him, he’s probably like, ‘Why does he want to play with me?’ But he accepted and what an awesome week.”
The victory was the fourth on the tour for Palmer, but first in nearly a decade. Having last won in 2010 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Palmer waved and gave a thumbs-up as he walked up the 18th fairway with a throng of fans applauding the impending triumph.
“It was nice playing the last hole with a three-shot lead. That’s for sure,” Palmer said.
Rahm took his third PGA Tour victory – one each in his first three seasons. He finished in the top 10 for the seventh time this year, including a tie for ninth at the Masters a couple weeks earlier.
“When Wesley told me he was having shoulder surgery a few months before the event, I was in no-man’s land,” Rahm recalled.
“I’m really happy I said yes” to Palmer’s proposal to team-up, Rahm continued. “I can say to Jordan and Wesley: ‘Sorry, we already have a partner for next year.”’
Palmer-Rahm finished at 26-under 262 at the TPC Louisiana, which had dried out considerably since heavy rain delayed the first round by more than seven hours and forced many players to play more than 18 holes on Friday and Saturday to get the event back on schedule.
Canada’s David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished with a share of 5th alongside Ireland’s Seamus Power. The duo finished at 20 under par, six back of the champions.
Opening the final round tied atop the leaderboard with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax, Palmer and Rahm surged to a two-stroke lead in just two holes after Stallings-Mullinax bogeyed the first hole and Rahm nearly holed out from the fringe to set up Palmer’s 1-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second. Palmer and Rahm never lost the lead after that, making birdies on 13 and 14 at virtually the same time Garcia and Fleetwood were making birdies on 17 and 18 – highlighted by Garcia’s 29-foot birdie putt in front of the grandstand on 17.
“Proud of how well we played,” Fleetwood said after he and Garcia’s final-round 68. “Neither of us hardly missed a shot. … To shoot 68 that easy in foursomes is a very, very good day.”
The teams of Kyoung-Hoon Lee-Matt Every and Brian Gay-Rory Sabbatini tied for third, five shots behind. Four teams tied for fifth at 20 under, four more for ninth at 19 under and defending champions Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy were among five teams at 18 under.
The winners each took home $1.05 million, moving Rahm up to nearly $3.1 million this season and Palmer to about $2.3 million.
Three days of sunshine made the greens increasingly “crusty” Palmer said, and faster. A number of players struggled to adjust Sunday, regularly rolling putts past the hole.
Yet Palmer and Rahm handled it well. Palmer made two putts from around 6 feet, one from 7, one from 8 and one from 11.
“What got us going for the most part was a lot of those par putts that Ryan made,” said Rahm, who figured out the greens on the back nine, making a 13-foot birdie putt on 10 and a 24-footer to save par on 15.
“It’s hard when you play slower greens that have been wet for three days and you come to these,” Palmer said. “But what a day to buckle down and make the ones we needed to.”
The Zurich format was best-ball in the first and third rounds, allowing players to be more aggressive. But bad shots held the potential to derail alternate-shot rounds because players had to deal with the lies their teammates left them.
Palmer and Rahm didn’t misfire often, but when one did, the other responded well.
The burly, powerful Rahm slammed his driver into the turf after pulling his tee shot through tree branches on the left side of the fairway and into the waste bunker on 12. But Palmer followed with a 195-yard shot that landed just short of the green, and sank a 6-foot putt two shots later for par.
Rahm’s psyche appeared restored when he bounced a 71-yard chip off the flag on 13 to set up Palmer’s short birdie putt.
Palmer gushed afterward about the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Rahm’s combination of strength and finesse.
“It’s really fun to play with a guy that can not only hit the ball the way he does, but watching his short game,” Palmer said. “I learned so much from watching it – the shots he hits when he’s got a bump-and-run or flop. … He’s got a special art.”
Stallings-Mullinax faded on the back nine, where they bogeyed 11 and 13 and double-bogeyed 16 after Mullinax’s tee shot went into the water. They finished with a 5-over 77 and tied for 13th.
Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, playing a three-hours’ drive from his native Bagdad, Florida, appeared primed to make a run with partner J.B. Holmes after they’d birdied the fourth, seventh and eighth holes to move to 20 under. But Watson left an approach shot short on 10, which the tandem bogeyed.
Holmes narrowly missed a birdie putt on 11, and then pulled his drive on 12, forcing Watson to chip back to the fairway while leaning against a tree. They bogeyed that hole and three more to finish 13 shots back.
Hadwin, Knous tied for 16th at Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, La. – Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer shared the lead with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax as the Zurich Classic finally got back on schedule.
Rahm and Palmer played 30 holes Saturday in the event delayed by rain for more than seven hours Thursday, finishing off a 7-under 65 in the alternate-shot second round and shooting 64 in best-ball play in the third.
“It’s been 4:30 four nights in a row,” Palmer said. “Dinners at 9 and back up at 4:30. Took its toll on me. Just feeding me sugar and food trying to keep my energy up. Tomorrow we’ll be on a lot of rest. If we’re on tomorrow in alternate shot, we’re going to be hard to beat.”
Rahm carried the team in the third round, with the Spaniard making eight birdies.
“He’s just fun to be around,” Palmer said. “He’s actually a great guy. I’ve enjoyed every second with him. When you’re up close and personal and watching it and see the shots he can hit around the green, you know, his short game is phenomenal. You can learn something from that, too, so I learned a lot. Honor to be a part of it.”
Palmer saved bogey with an 8-footer on the par-3 17th after both players hit into the water, and Rahm made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to match Stallings and Mullinax at 23-under 193.
“That putt Ryan made was probably the most important shot we made so far in the tournament,” Rahm said. “Felt like a birdie, and then to keep tied for the lead, very important.”
Stallings and Mullinax played 27 holes, shooting 70-62.
“We play a lot of practice rounds together,” Stallings said. “We’ve known each other for a few years. Just kind of we played so much together it just kind of made sense. We know each other’s games pretty well.”
Mullinax looked ahead to the final round.
“I really enjoy alternate shot,” Mullinax said. “Scott hits the ball great. Hitting it nice. We’re both putting well. I don’t feel like there is much pressure on us. Just go out and do our thing.”
Brandan Grace and Justin Harding were a stroke back. The South Africans played 32 holes, shooting 68-61.
“I think we played 50 odd holes,” Harding joked. “We certainly moved up the board. It’s just a matter of continuing the momentum throughout the rounds.”
Peter Malnati and Billy Hurley III were 20 under. They shot 66 after finishing the second round Friday.
Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood were another stroke back with the teams of Joel Dahmen-Brandon Harkins, Austin Cook-Andrew Landry, Hank Lebioda-Curtis Luck, Russell Henley-Ryan Blaum and Russell Knox-Brian Stuard. Brothers Brooks and Chase Koepka topped the group at 18 under along with Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and American partner Jim Knous were tied for 16th at 17-under par after firing a 65 on Saturday. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Irish partner Seamus Power and Nick Taylor, from Abbotsford, and Scottish partner Martin Laird were tied for 21st at 16 under.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., sat at 35th at 13 under.
Nick Taylor and partner share 2nd at delayed Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, La. – Nearly three inches of heavy rain and lightning forced a stoppage in play lasting more than seven hours Thursday during the first round of the Zurich Classic team event.
The first players to tee off were on the course for a little more than 2 1/2 hours before the horn sounded to suspend play.
The tandem of Joel Dahmen and Brandon Harkins left the course with the lead at 6 under through nine holes at the par-72 TPC Louisiana course southwest of New Orleans.
Canadian Nick Taylor and partner Martin Laird of Scotland share 2nd place at 10 under par.
One group played as many as 10 holes before play was stopped. Play resumed in the evening with just more than two hours of daylight left.
As the only team event on the PGA Tour, the Zurich Classic field is comprised of 80 two-player teams that play a best-ball format in the first and third rounds and alternate shot in the second and final rounds.