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Johnson, Spieth, Fowler part of logjam at Northern Trust

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Golf Canada

Two swings cost Dustin Johnson the lead. It wasn’t long before Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler caught up to him in The Northern Trust, setting up a weekend of star power in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

Johnson, finally looking like the No. 1 player who looked unstoppable in the spring, appeared on the verge of building a big lead at Glen Oaks Club until consecutive tee shots wound up on the wrong holes and forced him to scramble just to escape with bogey.

Fowler made up a five-shot deficit in six holes playing alongside Johnson, making a 15-foot birdie on the last hole for a 66 to join Johnson and Jhonattan Vegas (65) atop the leaderboard. And then Spieth put together a stretch Friday afternoon reminiscent of his British Open victory, minus a shot from the driving range, in a 65.

Spieth began the back nine with five straight birdies, matching his longest birdie streak on the PGA Tour. It ended with a bogey on the par-3 15th when his tee shot rolled back into the water, but then he answered with a 40-foot birdie putt up the slope on the 16th.

Even without his best year with his best club, Spieth has won three times and captured the third leg of the Grand Slam. But his putter doesn’t leave him for long.

“Putter has been streaky for me this summer, which is better than just kind of not-so-great, which it was before that,” he said. “So I’ve been able to mentally use one or two good putts to make me feel like I’m putting awesome.

“I got on the good side of the streak on the back nine today.”

Spieth made pars from the bunkers on the last two holes to join the others at 6-under 134.

He wasn’t alone in running off a string of birdies. Matt Kuchar looked as though he might miss the cut until his caddie encourage him to try to get back to even par. Kuchar ran off four straight birdies and kept right on rolling, ending his round of 64 with eight birdies on the last 10 holes.

Kuchar and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (68) were one shot out of the lead.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was the lone Canadian to make the cut and is five strokes back after a 69. Adam Hadwin (72) and Nick Taylor (76), both of Abbotsford, B.C., missed the cut while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., withdrew with a back injury.

Watson is at No. 113 in the FedEx Cup, and only the top 100 after The Northern Trust advance to the next playoff event at the TPC Boston. Watson says he won’t play the rest of the year once he is eliminating. A big finish this week could delay that another month, a nice problem to have.

Jon Rahm, who played with Johnson and Fowler, had a 68 and was two shots behind along with Justin Rose (68) and Russell Henley (72).

Seventy players made the cut at 2 over par. That included Geoff Ogilvy, who went bunker-to-bunker-to-bunker on his final hole and had to make a 4-foot putt for double bogey. If he had missed, then it would have let 11 players back into the tournament. Among those missing the cut were Hideki Matsuyama, the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs, who three-putted the last hole and missed by one.

The cut ended the season of 13 players, a group that included Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker and former PGA champion Jimmy Walker.

Johnson looked so sharp early on that he didn’t have a birdie putt longer than 12 feet over his first six holes, though he converted just two of them. He reached 8 under when he hammered a driver and a fairway metal to the back of the green on the 629-yard third hole, two-putting for birdie.

But his tee shot on No. 4 was inches away from the third fairway, and his next shot struck a tree. He had to get up-and-down from 50 feet right to save bogey. The next tee shot was so far left it was in the rough on the fourth hole. He clipped branches, hit a poor chip and had to two-putt from 80 feet for his bogey.

“But other than that, I felt like it was a really solid day,” Johnson said. “I’m really pleased with the way the golf game is right now and I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Fowler, meanwhile stuffed it on No. 4 and rolled in an 8-footer on the par-3 sixth over water, and just like that they were tied.

“Pretty stress-free,” Fowler said. “I’ve been driving it well this week, which is key around here. You don’t want to play out of the rough.”

Phil Mickelson limited his mistakes and made four birdies in a round of 68, which left him six shots behind but gave him two more rounds at Glen Oaks to post the kind of scores that would make him a viable pick for the Presidents Cup. Rory McIlroy chipped in for birdie on the tough par-3 second and shot 68. He was seven shots behind.

The focus was at the top with so many popular players contending _ Spieth, Fowler, Johnson at the top.

“That’s what tends to happen in the playoffs,” Spieth said. “As less guys make the next tournaments, you start to get players that are playing very well, and to no surprise, those guys are toward the top. … Should be an exciting weekend.”

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PGA TOUR

Henrik Stenson closes with 64 to win Wyndham Championship

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(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Henrik Stenson kept making birdies on the back nine Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. They added up to a tournament record – and his first victory of the year.

Stenson closed with a 6-under 64 for a one-stroke victory in the final event of the PGA Tour regular season.

The 2013 FedEx Cup champion finished at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, breaking the course’s 72-hole record set by Carl Pettersson in 2008 and matched last year by Si Woo Kim.

The Swede earned $1,044,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points for his sixth win on tour and his first since the 2016 British Open.

“It’s certainly a good time to start firing,” Stenson said. “We know the kind of damage you can do in the playoffs. … If you get hot and keep on playing well, you have a chance to challenge.”

Stenson said he left his driver in his locker all week – “he’s a little anxious to get out there and start getting some air time next week,” he quipped of the club – and certainly didn’t need it on the par-70 Sedgefield course.

For the second straight day, he had four birdies in a five-hole stretch of the back nine.

Ollie Schniederjans shot a 64 to finish second. Webb Simpson was 18 under after a 67.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. were the low Canadians at 6 under. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was 3 under.

“I had to keep on making birdies,” Stenson said, “because Ollie was surely not backing down.

Stenson had three consecutive birdies on Nos. 15-17 – leaving a 20-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole about a foot short – after he and Schniederjans were both at 19 under.

Stenson’s 30-foot birdie putt on No. 17 moved him to 22 under.

He needed it, because Schniederjans kept the pressure on him. The 24-year-old former Georgia Tech player made a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and added another birdie on the par-4 18th hole after placing his second shot 2 feet from the pin.

“I thought I had a two-shot cushion … and as I walked over (to the 18th hole and) looked around, ‘Oh, OK, (Schniederjans) birdied it as well,” Stenson said. “So I better scramble a par here to get the win.”

With Schniederjans watching the television broadcast and hoping for a tie, Stenson rolled a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 18 off the right edge of the cup, then made a 3-footer to end it.

“When I stuffed it (on No. 18), I thought that’s probably going to be a playoff,” Schniederjans said. “And he birdied 17 and got par on 18. Hat’s off to him – he had a great finish, too. Just one short.”

Low scores and tight leaderboards once again were the norm at Sedgefield. With seven holes left for the final pairing, four players – Stenson, Schniederjans, Ryan Armour and Kevin Na – shared the lead at 18 under.

“It was anyone’s tournament on the back nine,” Stenson said.

Stenson moved to 19 under with a birdie on the 13th and Schniederjans joined him with a remarkable recovery for birdie on the 15th. His second shot careened off a canopy covering the gallery and landed in a greenside bunker, but he chipped to 2 feet of the flagstick and converted the putt.

The other subplot at Sedgefield was the push by the bubble players to qualify for the playoffs that start next week at The Northern Trust for the top 125 on the points list.

Geoff Ogilvy, who was at No. 125, finished at 11 under and earned enough points to move to No. 116.

And Martin Flores, who started at No. 139, jumped to No. 118 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after a 63 highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th. J.J. Henry, Harold Varner III and Rory Sabbatini also played their way into the top 125.

“I was very aware of where I was all day but I knew that I needed to be somewhere inside the top 10, have to,” Flores said. “So I was able to get off to a great start and I was able to just keep it going all day.”

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PGA TOUR

Stenson takes 1 stroke lead after third round at Wyndham Championship

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(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Henrik Stenson kept his cool when some birdie chances turned into pars. That patience paid off late in his round.

Stenson shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship.

The 2013 FedEx Cup champion and 2016 British Open winner was at 16-under 194 at Sedgefield with a round left in the PGA Tour’s last regular-season event of the season.

The Swede had four birdies on a five-hole stretch of the back nine to overtake Webb Simpson for sole possession of first place.

“It’s all about how you finish, I guess,” Stenson said. “I came back strongly, great birdies coming home and right where we want to be.”

Simpson, Kevin Na and Ollie Schniederjans were tied for second. Na shot a 65, Schniederjans had a 66 and Simpson – a North Carolina native who won on this course in 2011 – had a 68. Johnson Wagner was 14 under after a 65.

“Any time you’re within two or three of the lead, you know you’ve got a good chance,” Simpson said. “And for more guys on tour, it’s not every week that you have a chance to win. Hopefully, I’m going to take advantage of it and come out and play a good, solid day.”

Stenson was at even par through his first 12 holes.

Then came the birdie binge he capped by sticking his second shot on the par-4 17th some 10 feet from the hole and converting that putt.

He could have ended his round with another one, but pulled his 15-foot birdie putt wide right and settled for par.

Still, his 72-hole score is second-best in tournament play at Sedgefield, surpassed only by Carl Pettersson’s 191 in 2008.

“Obviously, what I’ve done so far is working pretty well, and I’m playing the course the way I think it’s best for me,” Stenson said. “And I just trying to keep on hitting a lot of fairways, and if you do that, you can set up a lot of birdie chances with mid to short irons.”

Simpson – a local favourite who grew up in Raleigh, played in college at nearby Wake Forest and named his third child Wyndham after his first victory on tour came here – shared the 54-hole lead with Ryan Armour at 13 under.

Simpson birdied his first hole, then reeled off 11 consecutive pars before briefly taking sole possession of the lead with birdies on the 13th and 15th holes. He sank a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 13 and two holes later, he settled for birdie after missing a 35-foot eagle putt on No. 15.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch shot a 70 for a 7 under total. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was 6 under and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was 2 under.

Simpson could have caught Stenson on the 18th, but he pulled a 15-foot birdie putt left.

Winless on tour since October 2013, Simpson admitted his drought is “on my mind a little bit,” adding that he’s “very hungry to win again, very hungry to compete week in and week out.”

Schniederjans – a 24-year-old, third-year pro from Georgia Tech – is chasing his first victory on tour and his fifth top-10 finish of the year.

After shooting a 63 on Friday and starting his round two strokes off the lead, he became the first to 16 under with his birdie on the par-5 15th, hitting his second shot into the primary rough but recovering by chipping to 10 feet and converting the putt.

Then came trouble on the next hole. His tee shot on the par-3 16th landed in a low greenside bunker, and he stuck his chip into the rough just above the sand on his way to a bogey that dropped him back a stroke.

Na – who hasn’t won on tour since 2011 – joined Stenson in making a big move on the back nine. He had birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 17, landing his second shot inside of 10 feet.

“It’s been a while since I won,” he said, “so I think I’m ready.”

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PGA TOUR

Simpson, Armour share second round lead in Wyndham Championship

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(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Ryan Armour shot a career-best 9-under 61 on Friday for a share of the lead with Webb Simpson after two rounds at the Wyndham Championship.

Armour and Simpson were at 13-under 127 halfway through the PGA Tour’s final event of the regular season. Simpson shot a 64.

After leading early in the round Henrik Stenson finished a stroke behind them after a 66. Ollie Schniederjans and Vaughn Taylor and were 11. Schniederjans shot 63, Taylor had a 66.

First-round leader Matt Every followed his 61 with a 72 to slip six strokes off the lead.

The field at Sedgefield Country Club is once again full of players trying to force their way off the bubble and qualify for the post-season. The top 125 players on the points list earn berths at The Northern Trust next week in New York.

At No. 187 on the list, Armour isn’t even close to the bubble.

“Could turn your life around,” Armour said. “I had some goals at the beginning of the week. I knew where I stood and, you know, right now the goals are attainable.”

The 41-year-old who has yet to win on tour and has bounced between the big tour and the Web.com Tour throughout his 14-year professional career, had nine birdies – five on his first nine holes, then four in a row on Nos. 5-8 – to quickly climb the leaderboard.

His round was two strokes better than his previous best of 63 nine years ago in Milwaukee.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch (66) is tied for 19th at 7 under, David Hearn (68) of Brantford, Ont., is tied for 37th at 5 under and Nick Taylor (68) of Abbotsford, B.C., is in a group at 44th at 4 under.

Simpson, a North Carolina native who won here in 2011 and named his third child Wyndham, put himself in position to contend for his first victory since 2014.

He had four birdies on the first six holes of his back nine, pulling even with Armour at 13 under after his birdie on the par-5 15th.

“Keep making birdies, stay aggressive and know that there’s plenty of good golfers behind me,” Simpson said. “I got to keep the hammer down.”

Stenson, who started on the back nine, offset his lone bogey of the round – he missed a 15-foot par putt on the par-4 18th – with three birdies during the four-hole span between Nos. 4-7.

“The game plan is there,” he said. “I got the set-up in the bag to give me those numbers off the tee that we need and it’s just about going out there and playing, continue making birdies and giving myself birdie chances. It’s a low scoring golf course … keep it going.”

Among bubble players, No. 125 Geoff Ogilvy played his way to the weekend late in his round.

He had birdies on five of his final six holes to move to 4 under for the tournament – good enough to help him beat the cut line of 3 under.

And No. 141 Johnson Wagner had the shot of the tournament so far, with an albatross on the par-5 fifth, using a 5-iron to hole out his 215-yard second shot from the right fairway. It was the first double-eagle at the tournament since Fabian Gomez had one on No. 15 in 2011.

“I had a bunch of family that’s up by the green and they started going bananas,” Wagner said. “Pretty clear it had gone in.”

Wagner shot a 64 to move to 9 under.

Some others weren’t so fortunate: No. 126 Daniel Summerhays was at even par while No. 126 Cameron Tringale was 1 under.

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PGA TOUR

Matt Every ties first round record with 61 at Wyndham Championship

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(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Matt Every matched the Wyndham Championship’s first-round record with a 9-under 61 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead.

Every tied the opening-round mark set in 2010 by Arjun Atwal, who went on to win the PGA Tour’s final tournament before the post-season.

Henrik Stenson opened with a 62. Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson was at 63 along with Cameron Smith, Vaughn Taylor, Tim Wilkinson, Harold Varner III, Brian Campbell and Sam Saunders.

Davis Love III – the 53-year-old player who has won this tournament three times, most recently in 2015 – matched Martin Flores and Rick Lamb with a 64.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch both shot 67’s and are 3 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 68.

For Every, a 33-year-old with two career victories on tour, this was a much-needed strong start to what he hopes is a long week.

“I played good, and have been playing good for a while,” Every said. “So it’s just nice to see it come together.”

Every arrived at par-70 Sedgefield Country Club in a tie for 183rd on the FedEx Cup points list. The top 125 qualify for The Northern Trust next week in New York.

His best finish this season was a tie for 14th at the Canadian Open, and he had a string of seven consecutive tournaments from April-June in which he either withdrew or missed the cut. Both of his victories came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in 2014 and ’15.

“I have a high regard for my talent. Like, I know I’m as talented as anyone out here – maybe like five guys are more talented than me – so I couldn’t let myself quit,” Every said. “There were a lot of low points, though. That’s life. Just everything that I’ve been through, I’ve brought on myself. So I don’t need any sympathy or anything. It’s just the way my path has gone so far in the last couple years.”

After the best round of his career, he sure looks like a safe bet to reach the weekend at Sedgefield.

Every started his round with an eagle on the par-4 first, holing out a 105-yard shot from the left fairway that bounced three times and rolled in. He birdied three straight holes from Nos. 3-5, then added another on No. 7 and three more on the back nine.

He had a chance at the overall course record of 60 with a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 18, but missed it and tapped in a 5-inch putt for par.

Stenson, the 2016 British Open champion and FedEx Cup winner in 2013, had eight birdies in his bogey-free round and could have had another one but missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 15.

Simpson, the North Carolina native and former Wake Forest player who won this tournament in 2011, started his round on the back nine and had five birdies and an eagle on his first nine holes. Bogeys on the 418-yard first hole and the 428-yard fourth hole left him two strokes behind Every.

Varner had five birdies on his front nine, and after a bogey on the 10th hole, he reeled off three straight birdies on Nos. 13-15 – and celebrated by dabbing. The former East Carolina player began the tournament at No. 138 on the points list.

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PGA TOUR

Crunch time at the Wyndham Championship for Canada’s David Hearn

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Golf Canada

It’s crunch time for Canada’s David Hearn this week at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, in Greensboro, N.C.

The Brantford, Ont., native is one of several players in the field this week at the Wyndham Championship trying to advance to golf’s post-season or earn full exemption on the PGA TOUR for 2018.

The top-125 on the FedEx Cup points list at the conclusion of the tournament qualify for the first event of the playoffs next week, The Northern Trust in Old Westbury, New York, and also will be fully exempt on PGA TOUR next year, if they aren’t already.

Hearn is currently ranked 121st in the FedEx Cup standings and with every player from No. 116 to 135 in the field at the Wyndam Championship, he will need to have a solid week to ensure he stays inside the top-125 and qualifies for The Northern Trust.

Hearn has made the playoffs the last five years. His career best finish in the FedEx Cup was in 2015 when he finished 55th.

Two other Canadians will be in the field this week Nick Taylor, from Abbotsford B.C., and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch.

Taylor is ranked comfortably inside the top-125 at No. 84 while Fritsch will need a magical performance this week as he comes to Greensboro ranked No. 205 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Click here to view first round tee times for the Wyndam Championship.

 

PGA TOUR

Canada’s Graham DeLaet overcomes back pain for strong PGA Championship

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(Warren Little/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

A sore back left Graham DeLaet unsure if he’d even be able to tee off at the PGA Championship. Instead, he recorded one of the best performances of his career.

DeLaet, of Weyburn, Sask., finished Sunday’s final round tied for seventh at Quail Hollow golf course in Charlotte, N.C. It was his best result in one of golf’s four majors and just four shots back of winner Justin Thomas.

DeLaet said he was competing despite suffering from an ongoing back injury that flares up a couple of times a year, but the 35-year-old rallied to shoot 68 and 69 over the tournament’s final two rounds, the same weekend score as Thomas.

He said focusing on his health rather than his score actually helped him.

“When I was out there, I wasn’t really thinking about where I was at on the leaderboard, I was just trying to get through. From a mental standpoint it was actually kind of beneficial,” he said Monday. “Physically obviously I would have liked to have been healthy, but I kept my mind in a pretty good spot.”

Although DeLaet was in one of the final groups Sunday at a major for the first time in his career, he felt as though he belonged.

“There was a weird calmness about me, even on Saturday night,” he said. “If I could shoot 5 or 6 under, which was possible, but difficult (on Sunday), I would have had a chance to win a major. Even knowing that, I felt good.”

Physically, DeLaet felt better thanks to the efforts of Dr. Craig Davies, a Canadian conditioning coach and trainer who is based out of Orlando and has been working with DeLaet since 2011.

Davies said they did some acupuncture, dry needling, cupping, muscle adjustments, soft-tissue work and applied a new product called a Luminas patch that uses electrons from natural anti-pain compounds, prior to Thursday.

“Truth of the matter is, all of what we did would have been for not if it wasn’t for the fact that Graham has this playoff-hockey mentality where he can play through a lot of pain that a lot of players wouldn’t be able to play through,” said Davies.

“And if they could play through it, they wouldn’t have played at the level he could. It’s a massive testament to Graham.”

DeLaet, who withdrew from the Barracuda Championship two weeks ago, said this season has been solid overall with six top-10 finishes.

Still, as younger countrymen Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes, and Adam Hadwin have all captured PGA Tour victories in the last few seasons, DeLaet wants more.

“I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed to not have a few more chances, but it’s tough,” he said. “It’s tough to get into that position and when you are, it’s harder to play well and finish it off. Obviously, I’ve never done it yet,” he said.

“That’s always the goal. It’s been good, but I feel like that really, really high finish is what’s missing on the year.”

DeLaet has been buoyed by the support of his wife, Ruby, and being a new dad. He said playing for his twins – daughter Lyla and son Roscoe, born in 2015 – is something that’s always in the back of his mind.

“Ruby was watching (the PGA Championship) on TV and they knew it was me on the TV, which was cool, but I still don’t think they quite get it,” said DeLaet. “A couple more years for them to understand what I do, but that’s a motivator for sure.”

DeLaet will head to the family’s home in Idaho this week to rest up prior to playing the FedEx Cup playoffs starting next week at The Northern Trust in New York.

He said the week at the PGA Championship wore him out physically and mentally, and he’s eager for a break.

“It really took its toll on me,” he admitted. “But I hope this week will give me just enough to get back to where I need to be.”

Click here to view the full PGA Championship leaderboard.

PGA TOUR

Justin Thomas rallies to win the PGA Championship, Graham DeLaet T7

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(Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Justin Thomas emerged from the shadow of a longtime friend and won the PGA Championship to take his place among the young elite in golf.

With two big breaks to start the back nine, a chip-in for birdie to seize control and a timely 7-iron that soared over the water to a peninsula green, Thomas closed with a 3-under 68 for a two-shot victory.

The PGA Championship was the most fitting major for the 24-year-old son of a PGA professional. Mike Thomas, a former PGA board member and longtime pro at Harmony Landing outside Louisville, Kentucky, walked along the edge of the 18th green and into the arms of his son, a major champion.

The week began with Jordan Spieth’s quest for a career Grand Slam. Spieth was at the 18th green late Sunday afternoon at Quail Hollow, but only so he could celebrate the moment with Thomas, close friends since they were 14.

“So awesome, dude,” Spieth told him.

Thomas was every bit of that.

With five players still in the mix on the back nine, Thomas surged ahead by chipping in from 40 feet on the par-3 13th hole, and holding his nerve down the stretch as his challengers eventually faded, one after another.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., tied for seventh at 4 under. The Canadian shot a 2-under 69 on Sunday and had five birdies.

Hideki Matsuyama, bidding to become the first player from Japan to win a major, recovered from back-to-back bogeys with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes to get within one shot. But the championship turned on the 16th hole.

Thomas faced a 6-foot par putt to stay at 8 under. Matsuyama caught a good lie over the green and chipped to 5 feet. Thomas wasted no time over the putt and drilled it in the centre of cup. Matsuyama missed and was two shots behind.

“The last major of the year, and I was in contention,” said Matsuyama, a runner-up at the U.S. Open. “All I can do is try harder next time.”

Thomas sealed it with a 7-iron from 221 yards, so pure that he let the club twirl through his hands as he watched it clear the water and roll out to 15 feet. The birdie putt curled in and his lead was up to three going to the 18th. A final bogey only affected the score.

Thomas finished at 8-under 276 for his fourth victory of the year.

The PGA has been part of the Thomas family for three generations. Paul Thomas, his grandfather, was the longtime pro at Zanesville Country Club in Ohio who played in the 1962 U.S. Open. His father played at Morehead State and had aspirations of playing the tour that didn’t last long. Instead, Mike Thomas became a club pro who watched his son fall in love with the game and grow into a force on the PGA Tour.

“I can’t put it into words,” Thomas said about his PGA of America heritage. “I wish my grandpa could be here for it. It’s so special to get it done. I’ve glad we have a trophy now.”

Kevin Kisner was the last one who had a chance to catch him. But he three-putted from 100 feet on the 16th for bogey, couldn’t birdie the 17th from long range and hit his second shot into the water and finished with a double bogey. Kisner, the 54-hole leader, played the final three holes in 6 over on the weekend. He closed with a 74.

“That’s not going to be fun to look at,” he said of his weekend finish over the brutal closing stretch at Quail Hollow. “I thought I had to get to 10 (under) starting the day to win, and that was about right. I had every opportunity. I just didn’t finish it off.”

Matsuyama also hit into the water on No. 18 and made bogey for a 72 to finish three back.

Louis Oosthuizen (70), Patrick Reed (67) and Francesco Molinari (67) tied for second, though none had a chance to win playing the 18th. Oosthuizen holed a 50-foot birdie putt on the 18th to get a runner-up finish in the majors for the fourth time.

For Reed, it was his first top 10 in a major.

Just two months ago, fresh off a record-tying 63 in the U.S. Open to get in the final group at Erin Hills, Thomas struggled from the start and shot 75. He started this final round two shots behind, skulled a bunker shot on the first hole and had to make a 15-foot putt to avoid double bogey. He missed a short par putt on No. 3, and that was the last mistake he made until it no longer mattered.

Thomas began his move with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 9, and then caught two breaks on the par-5 10th. His tee shot sailed left into a tree and bounced out into the fairway. Then, his 8-foot birdie putt hung on the left edge of the cup. Thomas smiled and lazily turned away, and a few seconds later as he looked back toward the hole, gravity took over and the ball dropped into the cup.

He had a chance for a knockout until failing to birdie the two easiest holes on the back nine, only to make up for it with the tough bunker shot on the 16th that led to his clutch par, and a 7-iron that made him a major champion.

He gets referred to endlessly as Spieth’s best friend because Spieth, who is 3 months younger, has done so much so quickly. Their friendship dates to France when they represented the U.S. in the Evian Junior Masters. Thomas won that 36-hole event.

Ten years later, they have won consecutive majors and head into the FedEx Cup playoffs battling for PGA Tour player of the year.

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PGA TOUR

Kisner has PGA lead after wild finish, Canada’s Graham DeLaet T7

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(Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Kevin Kisner survived a calamitous finish at the PGA Championship thanks to a good bounce off a bridge that allowed him to escape with a bogey and take a one-shot lead into the final round at Quail Hollow.

Kisner already gave up a two-shot lead with a shot into the water on the 16th hole.

He nearly did it again on the 18th until the ball hit the concrete bridge, sailed high in the air and disappeared in thick grass on the hill above a creek. He did well to chop that out onto the green and two-putt from 45 feet for a 1-over 72.

He wasn’t alone in his struggles at the end of a long day of oppressive heat.

Chris Stroud, the last player to qualify for the PGA Championship with a playoff victory last week in Nevada, three-putted for bogey on his final two holes for a 71 and will play in the final group with Kisner. Also one shot behind was Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 73.

Jason Day was right there with them until a peculiar decision likely cost him a reasonable chance. Stuck behind a tree right of the 18th fairway, Day chose not to pitch out to the fairway and tried hooking it around the tree and the gallery to the right. The club clanged off the pine and the ball went into the bushes. He took a penalty drop, found the rough, came up short of the green and ended with a quadruple-bogey 8 for a 77.

Day was seven shots behind.

Rickie Fowler got within three shots of the lead until a three-putt bogey on the 16th hole, a tee shot into the water on the 17th for a double bogey, and a three-putt bogey on the last hole. That sent him six shots behind.

Weyburn, Sask., native Graham DeLaet is T7 at 2 under par. DeLaet carded a 3-under-par 68 in round three and is five shots back of the lead heading into the final round.

Through all that chaos, Matsuyama kept alive his chances to bring Japan in its first major.

Matsuyama made his share of mistakes, and while he failed to convert two good birdie chances, he played the last five holes bogey-free for a 73.

Kisner was at 7-under 206 as he goes after his first major championship.

Of the 15 players who remained under par, Louis Oosthuizen is the only one who has won a major, and that was seven years ago. Oosthuizen saved par from a similar spot Day was in on the 18th hole and shot 71. He was at 5-under 208, along with Justin Thomas, the son of a PGA professional who played bogey-free over his last 12 holes and posted a 69.

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PGA TOUR

Matsuyama, Kisner tied for lead at PGA Championship

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(Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Hideki Matsuyama never looks satisfied with his shots or his score, no matter how good they look.

Perhaps it will take winning a major to change that.

Five days after the 25-year-old Japanese star closed with a 61 to win his second World Golf Championship, Matsuyama motored through a dampened Quail Hollow with a 7-under 64 that gave him a share of the lead with Kevin Kisner (67) in the PGA Championship.

They were at 8-under 134, all but ending the hopes of Jordan Spieth to get the career Grand Slam this year.

Heavy rain that suspended play Friday afternoon made Quail Hollow more vulnerable than it has been all week, only Spieth couldn’t take advantage. He made only one birdie, finished with a bogey, and shot a 73 to finish 11 shots out of the lead.

“I kind of accept the fact that I’m essentially out of this tournament pending some form of crazy stuff the next couple of days,” Spieth said.

Kisner faced tougher, faster conditions in the morning and holed a 50-foot eagle putt from short of the green on the par-5 seventh hole. When his round was over, Kisner had a five-shot lead over the players from his side of the draw.

It didn’t look as though anyone would get close.

“These guys going out this afternoon, they break 70, they’ve done a hell of a job,” Rory McIlroy said after a 73 that put him 10 shots back.

A light rain began falling not long after McIlroy’s prediction.

Then, the storms rolled in with heavy rain that drenched the course and forced a rain delay of 1 hour, 43 minutes. And when the second round resumed, it felt like an entirely different golf course.

Jason Day, who played a four-hole stretch in 5 under around the turn and before the storms, began smashing driver without regard that it might run through the fairways and into the rough. He shot 66 and was two shots behind.

There were pitch marks on the putting surfaces. There were splotches of mud of the sides of golf balls. But the biggest difference was the rain took the fear out of putting on the fast, frightening greens and sent scores tumbling.

Francesco Molinari also shot a 64 and was at 5-under 137, along with Louis Oosthuizen, who had a 67.

Graham DeLaet (73) of Weyburn, Sask., was the low Canadian and likely the only one to make the projected 5-over cutline as he finished the round tied for 23rd at 1-over par. Mackenzie Hughes (72) of Dundas, Ont., was 8 over and Adam Hadwin (76) of Abbotsford, B.C., was 13 over.

Matsuyama, finishing his swing with one hand as tee shots found the fairway, already was playing great and putting even better. The storm delay did not stop him.

He ran off four straight birdies starting on No. 12 when he hit his approach into 12 feet. That was the longest of his seven birdie putts, though he also made a 20-foot par putt on the ninth hole. When the round resumed, Matsuyama got up-and-down for birdie on the 15th, saved par from a bunker on the 16th and then drilled a 7-iron over the bunker to 7 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th.

He had a putt just over 12 feet for birdie on the 18th that would have tied the PGA Championship record of 63, but it missed to the left.

No matter. He was tied going into the weekend, raising Japanese hopes of its first major championship.

The second round was halted by darkness, leaving 26 players who had to return Saturday morning. That included Chris Stroud, who was 5 under and had five holes remaining.

Kisner doesn’t have the length for this 7,600-yard course, but he has golf smarts, a reliable swing and a good putting stroke for the greens. He saw the changes to the course earlier this year on a soft, damp day and wondered how he would manage.

The plan was to make birdie on the par 5s and the two short par 4s, and play for par everywhere else.

It has worked to near perfection through two rounds, particularly on the par 5s: a wedge to 10 feet on No. 10; a wedge to 5 feet on No. 15; and the eagle putt on No. 7 that rolled against the pin and disappeared.

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