Canada’s Svensson holds share of 11th at Farmers
SAN DIEGO – Justin Rose tracked the flight of his 3-wood until he saw it splash into the pond guarding the 18th green at Torrey Pines. He walked a few steps and pulled his cap down over his eyes, the look of a man who had just made a crucial mistake at the wrong time.
Not really.
This was only Saturday.
Rose wasn’t happy that he finished up the third round with a bogey at the Farmers Insurance Open, but it didn’t take away from a game so strong that having his lead cut in half over the closing five holes was no cause for alarm.
Even with three penalty shots on the day, Rose still managed a 3-under 69 and a three-shot lead, the same margin with which he began the day.
He’s playing that well.
Adam Scott had the low round of the week on the South course with a 65, which pulled him within three shots and it still felt like a consolation.
“As good as I’m playing, I feel like I’m a long way behind,” Scott said.
Rose had six birdies and an eagle that more than atoned for his mistakes. Even with two double bogeys and the bogey on the par-5 18th, he still matched the 54-hole tournament record at 18-under 198, last set by Tiger Woods in 2008.
As for that bold attempt to go for the green?
He had an 8-iron from the first cut of rough to play it safe until he saw Ryan Palmer comfortably reach the green. Rose went to the 3-wood, knowing it could come out heavy, and that’s what it did.
“There was a long way to go,” Rose said. “So I wasn’t really playing with the lead in mind at that point. If I was running 30th in the tournament, that was a shot I would probably hit. But yeah, it didn’t work out.”
Jon Rahm had a 68 and was four shots behind, followed by 22-year-old Doug Ghim, the former No. 1 amateur playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption. Ghim shot a 67.
Woods had the biggest gallery and didn’t make much noise. Woods birdied three of his last five holes to salvage a 71, leaving him 13 shots behind and in search of moral victories in his 2019 debut.
He was at 5-under 211.
“I think if I can get to double digits (under par), it would be just a nice way to end the week,” Woods said. “I’ve got to play a little better than I have.”
Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., was the low Canadian, firing a 3-under 69 to enter a tie for 11th at 10 under. Mackenzie Hughes (70) of Dundas, Ont., was in the same group as Woods and finished the round tied for 36th at 6 under. Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., and Ben Silverman (72) of Thornhill, Ont., were in a group tied for 48th at 5 under.
Scott was the only player to give Rose a serious run, and it didn’t feel like much.
Starting the day seven shots behind, Scott opened with an 8-foot birdie and then holed out from 103 yards for eagle on the next hole. He added four birdies in a five-hole stretch at the turn and delivered the low round of the tournament on the South course.
And he still wondered if it was enough.
“It’s almost all up to him tomorrow,” Scott about Rose, his neighbour in the Bahamas. “So that’s no pressure on me. But this is not a course I can go out and just fire at pins. It’s too easy to make big errors. I’ll just have to chip away and see if he can do the same.”
Rose made plenty of errors, though he atoned for them with plenty of exquisite shots.
After starting with two birdies through three holes, Rose pulled his shot from a fairway bunker on the fourth hole into the hazard well left of the green, and he missed a 10-foot putt to make double bogey. He answered with two birdies and an eagle on the par 5s, reaching all of them in two, and appeared to be sailing along until he pulled his shot out of a bunker on No. 14 into the hazard for a second double bogey, and then found the water on the final hole.
Scott said he would not be thinking about winning overnight, not with Rose the player he is chasing.
Rose is No. 1 in the world, with five victories in the last 14 months and a game that is not showing many weaknesses.
“He’s just playing too good,” Scott said. “He’s the No. 1 player in the world, he’s played well for over two years. He’s feeling it. He wants to take advantage of all of his good golf and that’s why he’s running away with this thing.”
Scott said the one positive about his position is only one player is front of him.
Rose has a 3-6 record when he has the lead going into the final round on the PGA Tour, and he knows now to take anything for granted, even the way he’s playing on a strong South course. Rose and Scott are longtime friends, while Rahm won at Torrey Pines two years ago and has an explosive game, opening this event with a 62.
“I expect Jon and Adam to come out and play well tomorrow, as well as the chasing pack,” Rose said. “But one of those guys is capable of something in the mid-60s. Obviously, if I go out and shoot 68, then that’s a great round of golf.But a 68 on the South course isn’t anyone’s to lose. You have to go out and get it. I think it’s going to take a good round of golf tomorrow to get this done.”
Canada’s Adam Hadwin hungry for more after tie for second at Desert Classic
Adam Hadwin’s tie for second at the Desert Classic this past weekend gave him his third top-10 result of the young 2018-19 season, helped him break US$1 million in earnings on the campaign and moved him up to 13th in the FedEx Cup standings.
But as far as the Canadian golfer is concerned, it’s just not enough.
“Honestly, it’s not something I’m even paying attention to,” said Hadwin on Monday. “It’s way too early in the season to even worry about (the FedEx Cup standings). If I’m 13th going into August, then I’ll say this is an incredible accomplishment and that sort of thing.
“I just have to keep working hard. Yes, it’s a nice position to be in, but I’m after bigger things. I’ll just stay focused on playing good golf and whether or not it lines up, we’ll see.”
Hadwin, from Abbotsford, B.C., led for most of the final round, playing in a trio with Adam Long and all-time great Phil Mickelson on Sunday in La Quinta, Calif. Although Hadwin shot a 5-under 67 on the day, Long roared through the back nine to win the tournament with a birdie putt on the 18th hole. By any stretch, it was a successful week for the Canadian, who shot a 65, 66 and 65 to put himself in contention on the final day of play.
Still, Hadwin came into 2019 looking to add to his one career PGA Tour win, which came on March 12, 2017 at the Valspar Championship.
“I came out this year pretty hungry to get better,” said Hadwin. “This is a Presidents Cup year and I knew I was going to have to do some good things again to get myself back on the team. I’m not currently qualified for any of the majors or the (World Golf Championships) like I was the previous years.
“I want to earn my spot back into those and play the schedule that I played last year. It’s nice to play well, certainly, and it’s encouraging, but that Presidents Cup and the majors is what’s motivating me right now.”
Hadwin had five birdies on the front nine on the 7,113-yard Stadium Course at La Quinta Resort & Club and added a sixth birdie on No. 11. But a bogey on the 13th hole and putts that were inches short on 14 and 15 allowed Long and Mickelson to reel him in as Hadwin made par the last five holes.
Despite having a solid round of golf, Hadwin admitted that his nerves may have gotten the best of him. He shot a 13-under 59 in the third round of the 2017 edition of the Desert Classic, when he also finished second, and that was on his mind as he closed in on the 18th hole Sunday.
“The previous finishes that I’ve had in that event, that might have added a little bit more pressure too because I’ve been so close the previous years, that I had a good chance at closing it out this year,” said Hadwin, who also tied for third at the event in 2018. “Just didn’t get it done. You learn from that.
“Every time I’m in that situation, I get more and more comfortable in it. Sometimes I pull the shots off and sometimes I don’t. Just gotta keep working hard and it’s got to pay off eventually.”
Hadwin will miss the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego to rest for a week before playing in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Arizona that starts on Jan. 31. He’s also scheduled to play in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., starting Feb. 7 and the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., which begins Feb. 14.
Thank you for all of the support. Had a ton of fun battling it out with @PhilMickelson and @aLongShot on Sunday. Looking forward to the rest of the west coast swing!
— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) January 22, 2019
Henderson, Hadwin, Rank and Lee named GJAC’s 2018 POY
TORONTO – Brooke Henderson’s two LPGA Tour victories in 2018, including her historic win on home soil at the CP Women’s Open, earned her two additional honours to add to her rapidly-expanding resumé.
The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) has announced Henderson, Adam Hadwin, Garrett Rank and Jaclyn Lee as its 2018 Players of the Year as voted by GJAC members across the country. Henderson’s victory at the national open, the first by a Canadian in 45 years, was also voted Canadian Golf Story of the Year by an overwhelming margin.
“GJAC is thrilled to honour these outstanding players and highlight their remarkable accomplishments in the game in 2018,” said David McPherson, GJAC President. “Canadian players continue to produce incredible results at every level of the game and write stories with their achievements that captivate fans from across the country and beyond.”
Henderson’s triumph at Wascana Country Club in Regina, Sask., which was punctuated by a 72nd hole birdie to give her a four-stroke win over American Angel Yin, was the second win of a two-victory season (her other title came four months earlier at the Lotte Championship) that propelled her to a runner-up finish in the Race to the CME Globe. The 21-year old’s seven LPGA wins put her one title behind Mike Weir, George Knudson and Sandra Post for most all-time by a Canadian professional.
Adam Hadwin was named Male Professional of the Year after continuing his ascendancy as one of the world’s premier players, notching 10 top-25 results for the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season and finishing 36thin the FedExCup Standings. He and fellow Abbotsford, British Columbia product Nick Taylor also lifted Canada to a T4 finish at the World Cup of Golf, the nation’s best finish at the event since 1985.
Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee earned honours as Female Amateur of the Year after a standout season that culminated with a sixth-place finish at the LPGA’s Q-Series, earning her a tour card for her first professional season in 2019. The former Golf Canada National Amateur Team and Ohio State standout had a strong final season as an amateur, reaching the semifinals of the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Finally, Elmira, Ontario’s Garrett Rank earned Male Amateur of the Year honours after a remarkable run that included qualifying for the U.S. Open – earning the NHL Referee widespread attention and media coverage – and victories at the Ontario Mid-Amateur and Ontario Amateur, along with top-three results at the Canadian Amateur and Canadian Mid-Amateur.
Canadian Adam Hadwin finishes tied for second at Desert Classic
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Adam Long bounced around golf’s backwoods for years, winning only a lone Hooters Tour event. Now, he’s headed to the Masters as a PGA Tour winner.
Long won the Desert Classic on Sunday at PGA West, beating Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson and Canadian Adam Hadwin by a stroke with a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole after a 6-iron approach from an awkward stance.
“In some ways it’s been a little bit of a roller-coaster, but it’s been a steady improvement throughout my career,” Long said. “I’ve played in pretty much most tours around the world that there are and just kind of steadily progressed.
“It kind of can seem like it came out of nowhere, but my game’s been trending in the right direction for really the last two years now.”
Long closed with a 7-under 65 on the Stadium Course, holing the winning putt after Mickelson’s 40-foot birdie try curled left at the end.
“I got a pretty good read off Phil’s putt,” Long said. “It was one of those putts that you just stand over you just know you’re going to make. And you can’t control that, but when you have that feeling it’s a good one. I’m in pretty disbelief right now. I don’t really know what happened.”
Mickelson, the leader after each of the first three rounds, shot 69.
“I had a terrible putting day – one of the worst I can recall in a while,” Mickelson said. “Started right on the first hole with a little 4-footer uphill and three-putting that green. And I missed a bunch of short ones on the front and some birdie opportunities, but it felt awful with the putter. I hit a lot of good shots today, but just couldn’t get the ball to go in the hole.”
Long set up with the winning putt with the 6-iron approach from 175 yards with the ball below his feet in dormant grass on a mound to the right of the fairway.
The 31-year-old former Duke player earned his PGA Tour card with a 13th-place finish last year on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list. In five previous PGA Tour starts, he had made only one cut – a tie for 63rd in October in the Safeway Open.
Hadwin, from Abbotsford, B.C., finished with a 67, losing a three-stroke lead on the back nine.
“It’s golf,” Hadwin said. “I made a bunch of putts all week and then honestly I was kind of battling it a little bit swing-wise, didn’t quite have it like I did the first three days. … It just kind of flat-lined on me there in the last few.”
The Canadian had his fourth straight top-six finish in the event. He was second in 2017 after a third-round 59 at La Quinta Country Club and tied for third last year.
Strong effort from #TeamRBC‘s @ahadwingolf down the stretch @Desert_Classic with a T2 finish! We have a feeling 2019 is going to be a good one ??⛳️ pic.twitter.com/Mg5Y25VQdZ
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) January 21, 2019
Long finished at 26-under 262 and earned $1,062,000. He chipped in twice on the back nine to remain in contention.
“Those chip-ins were huge and some putts on the front nine as well to just kind of hang in there,” Long said,
He opened with a 63 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course, shot 71 on Friday at the Stadium layout and had another 63 on Saturday at La Quinta to get into the final group with Mickelson and Hadwin.
“It was a huge thrill to play with Phil,” Long said. “I looked up to him my whole life and big fan of his and he couldn’t have been greater to me out there and he was awesome to play with, a lot of fun.”
The 48-year-old Mickelson was making his first tour start since the Safeway and first competitive appearance since beating Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in November in a made-for-TV event.
Adam Hadwin (Getty Images)
Mickelson entered the day two strokes ahead of Hadwin and three ahead of Long. The tournament winner in 2002 and 2004, Lefty matched his career-low score with an opening 60 at La Quinta.
“It’s a weird game how sometimes if you haven’t played for a while it just can click and come right back,” Mickelson said. “But usually you need a little bit of a foundation there coming down the stretch. When you get to feel the pressure you need to have that foundation of practice and seeing the shots that you want to hit, seeing the ball go in on the greens and so forth and I didn’t really have that today.”
Talor Gooch was fourth at 24 under after a 64, Dominic Bozzelli followed at 22 under after a 66, and Jon Rahm, the 2018 winner, shot 67 to get to 21 under.
Top-ranked Justin Rose closed with a 70 to tie for 34th at 14 under. He’s the first No. 1 player to play the tournament since the world ranking began in 1986.
Canadians Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.) and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.) finished inside the top 20 at T12 and T18, respectively. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., rounded out the Canadians in action with a share of 40th.
Mickelson holds 2-shot lead on Canada’s Hadwin in Desert Classic
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson made three long birdie putts on the back nine Saturday to take a two-stroke lead on Canadian Adam Hadwin into the final round of the Desert Classic.
Making his first start of the year, the 48-year-old Mickelson shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on the Stadium Course at PGA West to get to 22-under 194.
“I don’t know what to say,” Mickelson said. “I played OK and my goal or game plan of playing the Stadium Course is to actually hit drivers and to try to bomb it down there as close to the greens as you can. … It seemed to play out OK and I gave myself a lot of good chances. I missed a few short putts … but I also made a couple of long ones that were nice little bonuses.”
He topped the leaderboard for the third straight day after matching his career-low score with an opening 60 at La Quinta Country Club and shooting a 68 on Friday on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course.
“It’s so fun,” Mickelson said. “I just love being in contention, having a chance to win, being in the final group, feeling the nerves, feeling that excitement, the opportunity. It’s just, it’s really fun.”
The tournament winner in 2002 and 2004, Lefty rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th and added a 12-footer on the par-4 14th. After missing a 10-foot try on the par-5 16th to spoil an up-and-down bid from the deep greenside bunker, he ran in a 25-footer on the island green, par-3 17th called Alcatraz.
Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., was second after a 65 on the Nicklaus layout. The Canadian has three straight top-six finishes in the event. He was second in 2017 after a third-round 59 at La Quinta and tied for third last year.
“Living in Phoenix these past few years, this is the golf that I play every day,” Hadwin said. “The greens are exactly what we play back in Scottsdale. So I would assume that might add to some of the comfort. It’s really hard to pinpoint. For whatever reason as soon as I get down here in the desert I start playing some good golf.”
Mickelson is making his first tour start since early October and first competitive appearance since beating Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in November in a made-for-TV event. The Hall of Famer won the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship last year for his 43rd PGA Tour title and first since the 2013 British Open.
After opening with five straight pars, he chipped in for birdie on the par-3 sixth and birdied the next two.
“Every once in a while you just need that little putt, chip, something to fall and give you a little momentum,” Mickelson said.
“I followed that with two more birdies, so that was kind of the shot that ignited that little run and got the round going.”
He’ll be back on the Stadium Course for the final round.
“It’s a course you don’t have to be perfect on, you have to hit a lot of good shots in certain spots, but if you miss it, miss it properly, you can still play this course,” Mickelson said. “I feel like I don’t have to be perfect, I can come out, play aggressive, which is how I like to play, try to crush drivers and get it down as close as I can to the greens and see if I can make some more birdies.”
Adam Long was third at 19 under after a 63 at La Quinta, and Steve Marino had a 67 on the Nicklaus layout to get to 18 under.
Defending champion Jon Rahm was tied for seventh at 16 under after a 68 at the Stadium.
Top-ranked Justin Rose was tied for 29th at 12 under after his third straight 68, this time on the Stadium Course. He’s the first No. 1 player to play the tournament since the world ranking began in 1986.
Hadwin sits third as Mickelson holds 36-hole lead at Desert Classic
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson birdied four of his last five holes Friday in the Desert Classic to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend in his first event of the year.
A day after matching his career-low score with 12-under 60 at La Quinta Country Club, the 48-year-old Mickelson had a 68 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course to reach 16 under. The tournament winner in 2002 and 2004, Lefty will play the final two rounds on PGA West’s Stadium Course.
Curtis Luck was second after a 66 on the Nicklaus layout. The 22-year-old Australian rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 eighth with a closing birdie on the par-4 ninth.
Canadian Adam Hadwin, a Team RBC member, and Steve Marino were 13 under. Hadwin had a 66 at La Quinta, the course where he shot 59 two years ago. Marino had a hole-in-one in a 65, also at La Quinta.
Mickelson birdied the par-4 fifth and sixth holes, the par-5 seventh and closed with another on No. 9. On his opening nine, he birdied the par-5 11th and par-3 12th, then gave back the strokes with a double bogey after hitting into the water on the par-4 18th.
Canada’s Conners on his way to full PGA TOUR card with fast start to 2019 season
Corey Conners was working on his putting last Friday when fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes offered some advice.
Hughes pointed out that if Conners tucked in his right elbow a little bit, it would improve his setup.
Conners listened to his longtime friend and went on to shoot a 64 in the third and fourth rounds of the Sony Open in Hawaii to finish at 17-under 263 and tie for third after having to qualify for the PGA Tour event at the start of the week. The high finish has helped Conners climb the FedEx Cup standings and given him momentum heading into this week’s Desert Classic in La Quinta, Calif.
“It gave me some confidence and I told him on Friday afternoon ‘thanks to you, you’re going to see my name rocketing up the leaderboard this weekend.’ I was able to putt a little bit better and do just that,” said the 27-year-old Conners on Wednesday. “He sent me a text after the round on Sunday saying nice work and I thanked him for giving me the tips. I owe him one.”
Conners, from Listowel, Ont., earned a partial PGA Tour card last season by finishing 130th in the FedEx Cup standings with 353 points. The top 125 players on that list get a full card, with American Harris English earning the final spot with just 50 points more than Conners.
But Conners’s third-place finish on Sunday, coupled with a second-place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship and a tie for 23rd at the RSM Classic, has him sitting 19th early in this season’s FedEx Cup standings with 331 points. In other words, he’s already closing in on his point total from last season and is a virtual lock to earn a full PGA Tour card for 2020.
“I was in a position last year where I was trying to fight for my card all through the summer and toward the end of the year,” said Conners. “It takes a lot of pressure off. Something that I don’t have to worry about as much going forward, I can just focus on having good weeks instead of feeling the pressure to have a certain finish.”
Given his quick rise up this season’s FedEx Cup standings, Conners will likely be asked to play in more invitational tournaments, helping him earn even more points toward next year’s card.
“It was a bit unknown what events I would get into at the beginning of the year, but having this good start there will be some of the invitational tournaments that I’ll be able to get into, which is awesome, and there will be a couple of new events I’ll get to add, which is really exciting,” said Conners. “It’s really helpful to have a good start like I’ve had to set up the rest of the year.”
Conners was joined by seven other Canadians as the Desert Classic teed off on Thursday. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., joined Conners on the LaQuinta course. Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both from Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., were on the Stadium Course.
It’s the third time this season eight Canadians are in a PGA event, marking the highest number for a non-domestic tournament since the organization began keeping track in 1970.
Despite the name of the Desert Classic, there has been a lot of rainfall in the days leading up to the event.
“Hopefully they get some sun the next few days,” said Conners. “The golf courses here in the desert are awesome, so lush. The grass is perfect. They’re beautiful courses.
“The greens are rolling really nice so I’m real excited to get going. I like the golf courses a lot. It’s hard not to enjoy when yourself when you get to play in such beautiful places.”
Canadian Corey Conners ties for 3rd in Hawaii
HONOLULU – Corey Conners notched his second top-5 PGA Tour result this season — but it didn’t come easy.
The Listowel, Ont., native got into the field via Monday Qualifying, going on to finish in a tie for third at 17 under par. Conners made his most significant move on the weekend, firing matching scores of 64 to rocket up the leaderboard.
With the finish, the 27-year-old Team Canada alumnus sits 19th in the FedEx Cup rankings and moves into the top-200 (No. 181) on the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. Conners finished five strokes back of champion Matt Kuchar.
He shot 74 on Labor Day and failed to advance out of the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 10 years. He was never in serious contention all year. The captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup were announced the next day. Kuchar wasn’t even considered, left off a U.S. team for the first time since 2009.
Four months later, the view is so much different.
The rainbow that stretched across the Oahu sky on Sunday looked magical when Kuchar turned to raise his arms after one last birdie for a 4-under 66, which gave him a four-shot victory in the Sony Open.
Kuchar, a member of Team RBC, had gone 115 starts on tour without winning. Now he has won two of his last three.
“Crazy to comprehend,” he said.
This was much harder than reading the fine print that he won by four shots over Andrew Putnam with the third-lowest score in Sony Open history.
Kuchar’s two-shot lead going into the final round was gone in four holes, and when he missed the green on No. 5 with a wedge, he was trailing for the first time all weekend. At the par-5 ninth, Kuchar and Putnam were in the same bunker short of the green. Putnam went first and blasted out to a few inches. Kuchar left his 10 feet below the hole and was in jeopardy of falling two behind.
He made the putt, one of several key moments the rest of the way. And right after Putnam’s lone mistake, a 9-iron into a deep bunker left of the 14th green that led to his only bogey in a round of 68, Kuchar answered with back-to-back birdies and was headed to another victory.
Matt Kuchar (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
“Thrilled to have won two events this early in the year,” said Kuchar, the first multiple winner on the PGA Tour this season. “It absolutely sets up the year to be in great position for the FedEx Cup. There’s a lot of year left, and a lot of great things that are out there to be done.”
It was only the second time in his career that he had multiple victories. The other was in 2013, when he won the Match Play Championship in February and the Memorial in early June, with three majors still to be played.
Extra special to Kuchar was going up the 18th fairway with a comfortable margin. Winning was never this easy in his previous eight victories.
Then again, part of him likes it that way, whether he’s trying to recover from a bad start on Sunday or even a bad year.
“I love playing golf. I love how hard it is,” he said. “Golf is addictive that way, in that if you’re not playing well you can’t wait to figure it out and make it better. If you’re playing well, shoot, it’s great. It’s awesome. You want it to never end. It’s a cycle of whether it’s good or bad that you have this quest to continue to play, to improve, to fix, whatever it is.”
He goes to No. 22 in the world ranking and No. 2 in the FedEx Cup. He already has earned over $2.5 million in January, $800,000 more than all of last season.
Kuchar turned 40 last summer, which might have added to the anxiety of going so long without a win.
He never saw it that way. This run began with a visit to his swing coach, Chris O’Connell, right before he began this season. He didn’t score well in Las Vegas and stayed the course. He won in Mexico at the Mayakoba Classic the following week, and then he won again.
“I’m not sure I’m into making a statement, but it is interesting to see how young the tour has gotten,” he said. “But thankfully, golf requires so many different things to be going right. It’s not just power game, a putting game. There are so many facets to the game that it allows people to play for a long time and play competitively and play great for a long time.”
Putnam’s consolation was cracking the top 50 in the world for the first time at No. 45. He won the Barracuda Championship last summer, a month after he played better than anyone except for Dustin Johnson at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“I’m feeling a little let down right now,” Putnam said after closing with a 68. “I’m sure when I think about it … a lot of good things have happened. Just needed to make some better swings. Kuch was making birdies and played great coming down the stretch. I just couldn’t keep up with him.”
Kuchar had the gold trophy, the winner’s lei around his neck. He was in no hurry to leave, and plans to stay in Hawaii for another two weeks with his wife and two sons. Even better? He already has earned a spot at Kapalua next year, the tournament reserved only for winners.
“Trust me, getting in the field at Kapalua is a real treat,” Kuchar said.
Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.) finished T33 ahead of first-round leader Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.) at T43 and Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) at T57.
Corey Conners tied for 5th heading into Sunday in Hawaii
HONOLULU – Matt Kuchar kept another clean card and shot a 4-under 66 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Sony Open, a chance to win twice in one PGA Tour season for only the second time in his career.
Kuchar ended a four-year drought by winning the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico last fall, and there are a few similarities. He set a personal record for 54 holes in Mayakoba at 193. He went one better at Waialae at 18-under 192.
Both courses require keeping the ball in play, and Kuchar has done that well over three rounds. He has made only one bogey through 54 holes, and he only came seriously close to one on Saturday, saving par from the bunker on the par-3 17th.
“Good, steady golf,” Kuchar said. “It felt easy out there. I didn’t find myself in any trouble.”
Andrew Putnam was two shots behind after a 67.
Keith Mitchell had a 63 to pull within four shots, along with Chez Reavie, who fell back with three straight bogeys early on the back nine. Those were the only players within five shots of the lead, and all of them are chasing Kuchar.
“I anticipate needing another good score tomorrow,” Kuchar said. “I know I can’t coast.”
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is the top Canadian after three rounds. Conners shot a 6-under 64 and is a tie for fifth at 11-under.
Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., (66) is 10-under, Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., (70) is 5-under, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., (70) is 2-under while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., (73) is 1-over.
Kuchar is 2-2 when he has the 54-hole lead going into the final round.
The only other time Kuchar won twice in the same season was in 2013, when he won the Match Play Championship in Arizona in February and the Memorial in early June. That put him at No. 4 in the world, the highest he has been in his career.
Kuchar was sliding his way out of the top 50 toward the end of last year, when he failed to make a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team for the first time since 2009. But he had a good session with his swing coach in Dallas, and it paid off two weeks later on the Gulf side of the Mexican coast.
This was more of the same.
Putnam, who won for the first time last year in the Barracuda Championship held opposite a World Golf Championship, did his best to stay in reach. They were tied through seven holes until Putnam made bogey on No. 8 and failed to birdie the par-5 ninth, the easiest hole at Waialae. Putnam missed an 8-foot birdie attempt on No. 18.
“Didn’t feel as easy as the first two days,” Putnam said. “Still played a good round. Still got a chance.”
Bryson DeChambeau had a 63 and led a large pack at 11-under 199, seven shots out of the lead for a slim chance at winning unless the leaders come back to the field. Also tied for fifth were Charles Howell III and 54-year-old Davis Love III, who had one of his better putting rounds.
Kuchar was at his best on a number of putts from the 50-foot range. He didn’t make any, but he didn’t leave himself any work for par. That added to the stress-free feeling of a round, and the overall control he feels in his game.
He never looks to be under stress, though Kuchar says looks can be deceiving.
“I’ve got grey hair,” he said with a laugh. “Listen, the game of golf is not easy. It’s not often you’re in full control. Those times you’re not in full control, you’re faced with a lot of situations where golf is going to find a way to stress you out and test you. I’ve been through it. But I enjoy the challenge even when you’re not playing well of trying to figure out shooting a score. I enjoy that challenge.”
The next challenge is winning, and it helps to have gone through the experience last November.
Roger Sloan sits T12 to lead Canadians mid-way through Sony Open
HONOLULU – The easygoing vibe in Hawaii is a perfect fit for Matt Kuchar, who spends as much as a month at a time on the islands when his schedule allows.
The Sony Open is more about work than play, and he’s having just as much fun.
Kuchar ran off four birdies in five holes to start his second round Friday, handled the par 5s at Waialae again and finished with another round of 7-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over Andrew Putnam.
“To shoot 7 under back-to-back is unexpected, but awfully excited,” Kuchar said with the same smile he wears for most any occasion.
Kuchar was at 14-under 126, matching the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA Tour career. He also had a 126 in Las Vegas in 2008.
Putnam, playing in the afternoon, had a bogey-free 65 and was one shot behind. Chez Reavie (65) and Stewart Cink (62) were four behind.
Jordan Spieth had a short week after a long break from golf. In his 2019 debut, Spieth had a 66 and missed the cut by one shot. Needing to birdie the last four holes to qualify for the weekend, Spieth ran off two birdies, missed a 10-foot birdie putt and then narrowly missed chipping in for eagle.
“I loved the fight,” Spieth said. “I feel like I was trying to win the tournament trying to make the cut, which is not something I want to get used to.”
He returns in two weeks at Torrey Pines.
No one had a more memorable round than Reavie. He holed out for eagle three times from the fairway – a sand wedge from 101 yards on No. 10 at the start of his round; a 9-iron from 149 yards on No. 16, and a gap wedge from 135 yards on No. 6.
The PGA Tour only began keeping hole-by-hole records in 1983, and no one had ever made three eagles in one round on par 4s since then. Reavie didn’t think all that much about it until he piped a drive on No. 8 and hit a wedge that covered the flag.
“It was on a good line, and that was the only time it crossed my mind – ‘Wow, could we make another one?”’ he said. “The other two, I just hit the shot I was trying to see and it was going at the hole. Never expected it to go in. It’s always a surprise when it disappears.”
So odd was this round that Reavie made more eagles than birdies, and the one shot that made him think the ball might go in the hole led to a par.
“Apparently, I need to go buy a lottery ticket today,” Reavie said.
That would be a good idea, except Hawaii doesn’t have a lottery. For now, he has to figure out how to make up four shots on Kuchar.
Calgary’s Roger Sloan is in at 6 under par in a tie for 12th to lead the Canadian contingent. Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.) are one stroke back at T20.
Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ont.) and Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) hold shares of 65th place after making the cut on the number at 2 under par.
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Cink made nine birdies in his round of 62. Marc Leishman (64) and Ted Potter Jr. (65) were at 9-under 131.
Kuchar sometimes comes to Hawaii with his wife and two kids even when he’s not playing golf. He has been to five of the islands, and plans to stay another few weeks after the Sony Open. He likes it better when he can play a few tournaments.
He became eligible for the winners-only field at Kapalua last week by winning at another beach resort – Mayakoba – last year, opening with rounds of 64-64, the kind of start he has enjoyed at Waialae.
Clearly, the 40-year-old is in a better spot than when he had gone more than three years without winning and was left off the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years. He felt as though he was grinding too hard, and that’s not a trait he wears well.