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Webb Simpson breaks out of crowd to take Colonial lead

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(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Webb Simpson shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday to break out of a crowd and take the third-round lead at the Colonial.

At 9-under 201, Simpson was two strokes ahead of Danny Lee and Paul Casey after both of them made long birdie putts at the 18th hole. Stewart Cink and Kevin Kisner were three strokes off the lead.

Part of a four-way tie for the 36-hole lead, Simpson went ahead alone to stay after consecutive birdies to start his back nine. He made a 6-foot birdie putt at the 387-yard 10th and a 12-footer at the 630-yard 11th before finishing with seven consecutive pars.

It is only the second time in 12 years at Colonial for the 54-hole leader to have more than a one-stroke advantage.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth shot a 68 with a caddie switch after making the turn, and was at 4 under.

Spieth’s regular caddie, Michael Greller, left the course after 11 holes because of heat exhaustion on a steamy day with temperatures in the 90s and the heat index higher than that. Damon Goddard, the personal trainer for the player and the caddie, carried the bag the rest of the round – a stretch when Spieth had a bogey and two birdies.

Graham DeLaet (71) of Weyburn, Sask., and Adam Hadwin (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., were the low Canadians at 4 over. Nick Taylor (73) of Abbotsford was 5 over and David Hearn (75) of Brantford, Ont., is 7 over.

Lee and Kisner also were tied for the second-round lead, along with Scott Piercy, whose shot 72 to fall five strokes back.

After three birdies and three bogeys his first eight holes Saturday, Lee had a steady stream of pars until finishing with a 16-foot birdie for a round of 69.

Casey, who shot 68, was alone in second for only a couple of minutes. He made a nearly 25-foot birdie putt that had just enough speed to fall into the cup at No. 18, while Lee was playing in the group behind him. Casey was 1 over for the day without a birdie until starting his back nine with three birdies in a four-hole stretch that included a bogey.

Piercy was still within a stroke of the lead at 8 under after a par-saving 13-foot putt at the 12th hole after driving into the rough and hitting his approach in a greenside bunker there.

Piercy then promptly hit his tee shot at the par-3 13th into the pond on way to a double-bogey. He followed with another bogey at 15 when he drove into the rough and then hit into a greenside bunker, and did the same at No. 18.

Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open winner playing in the final group, started the round with birdies at the first two holes. He gave one of those back with a bogey at the par-3, 192-yard No. 8 after missing the green with his tee shot.

Since losing a playoff to Hideki Matsuyama at Phoenix, Simpson had missed four of nine cuts before this week. The four-time PGA Tour winner’s best finish in that stretch was a tie for 11th at the RBC Heritage.

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PGA TOUR

Danny Lee shoots 64 for share of Colonial lead, Spieth avoids cut scare

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(Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Jordan Spieth normally doesn’t concern himself with the cut line in the middle of a round.

Unless the Dallas native is in danger of staying home on consecutive weekends in what amount to his hometown events.

Spieth recovered from a bad start by going 5 under over his final 13 holes at the Colonial on Friday, and his 2-under 68 put the defending champion at 2-under 138, four shots behind second-round leaders Webb Simpson, Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee and Scott Piercy.

“When your back’s against the wall and you feel the nerves kick up because you’ve got to do something, and you’re not going to be able to play both weekends in town,” said Spieth , coming off missed cuts in The Players Championship and AT&T Byron Nelson. “That would have been really, really tough for me to swallow if I missed the cut. And it was in my head.”

Lee birdied the last hole for a 64, the low round of the tournament on a hot and windy day. Kisner also had a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, for a second straight 67. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, and Piercy each shot 66 to join the group at 6-under 134.

Spieth said the key to the recovery was a short bogey putt at 14, his fifth hole, that dropped him to 3 over after he opened with a par 70. The 23-year-old broke from his recent routine by seeking caddy Michael Greller’s input on the 4-footer.

“He said, ‘Hit this one with confidence and walk it in,”’ Spieth said about his third bogey in the first five holes. “I stepped and walked it in. I think it was kind of shocking because it was a bogey putt to go 3 over. No one really walks those in. But it was exactly what I needed.”

Spieth immediately followed with a 35-foot birdie putt at No. 15, then had four birdies in the first five holes of Colonial’s front nine. That included two birdies on the “Horrible Horseshoe” of holes 3-5.

The 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion had no bogeys over the final 13 holes after seven bogeys and a double bogey among his first 23, which offset six birdies in his opening round.

“I played one through five in 4 under. I don’t think I’ve ever done 2 under on those holes,” Spieth said. “I felt really good about the way that we played those last 14 holes, about as solid as the entire year.”

Masters champion Sergio Garcia (66) and fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm (69), who played in the same group, were at 5 under along with England’s Paul Casey (66) and Sean O’Hair (68).

Phil Mickelson didn’t have a birdie while shooting a 75 that left him at 2 over, three shots clear of the cut in his first Colonial since the two-time champ missed the cut in 2010.

Simpson made a 7-footer at the par-3 16th, then put his approach at 17 just inside 3 feet for a birdie that tied Casey. Third at Colonial last year, Simpson had missed the cut at Colonial his only two other times in 2009-10.

A four-time PGA Tour winner with his most recent victory in 2014, Simpson skipped last week’s Nelson and hasn’t played both Dallas-Fort Worth events since 2010.

“I didn’t play well at Byron my first couple of years, so I just decided to stay out of Texas,” Simpson joked.

Kisner made a 14-foot birdie on his final hole, the ninth, to join Simpson. Moments later, Lee rolled one in from 27 feet at the 18th. Piercy had a shot at the outright lead at the ninth, missing from 24 feet.

Casey’s best Colonial finish was fifth in his debut in 2009, the same year of his only PGA Tour win in Houston. The 14-time international winner had three birdies and a bogey over his first four holes before settling in with two birdies over the final 14 while generally staying out of trouble.

The highlight for Casey was a 25-foot par save at the par-4 fifth, his 14th hole.

“It’s been tricky with the wind,” Casey said. “I’ve handled it so far, so I would actually like it to stay tricky if it can. And I handle the heat well. So I am saying probably the more difficult it is, the better it is for me.”

Garcia had six birdies, while Rahm didn’t get his first until 17 while finishing with two straight.

Si Woo Kim, playing for the first time since winning The Players Championship two weeks ago, had an 8 on the par-4 ninth after his pitch from greenside bunker went dead right off his club and rolled into the water.

Kim had to go across the pond for his drop and hit another ball in the water, then tossed his club in as well after finally reaching the green on the next shot. He made a 15-footer for quadruple bogey, and finished with a 73 to miss the cut at 5 over.

There are three Canadians T45, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both natives of Abbotsford B.C and Brantford Ontario’s David Hearn.

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PGA TOUR

Trio of 65s lead Colonial; 2 time champs 2 back

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(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jon Rahm was at Colonial during tournament week each of the past two years to accept the Ben Hogan Award that goes to the nation’s top college golfer. This time, he’s playing in the PGA Tour event at Hogan’s Alley and among the leaders.

With his 4-under 66 on Thursday, Rahm was a stroke behind first-round leaders Kelly Kraft, Derek Fathauer and PGA Tour rookie J.T. Poston.

That also put Rahm ahead of two-time Colonial champs Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson after both birdied their last three holes for 67s. He also led 2016 winner Jordan Spieth, whose even-par round included six birdies.

"The last two times I was here, all I recorded was super happy and positive memories," Rahm said. "It’s just the vibe that I have around this place is so positive, especially with Sergio (Garcia) winning and with the Ben Hogan history that I’m related to now."

The 22-year-old Rahm, the winner at Torrey Pines in January, had only one bogey while playing with Masters champion Garcia, the fellow Spaniard who won in his first Colonial appearance in 2001.

Kraft and Graeme McDowell, tied with Rahm for fourth, had the only bogey-free rounds. Only 33 of the 121 players finished the first round under par.

Scott Brown had the other 66, and had the outright lead at 6 under before a double bogey at No. 18.

Spieth, coming off missed cuts the past two weeks, was tied for 34th his six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. He was even par after birdies on his last two holes.

"It’s a great finish. Kept me in the tournament," Spieth said. "If I was a couple over, you know, in the back of my mind I would be wondering about the cut line."

After two bogeys on the first four holes, Spieth made 4-foot birdie putt at the 466-yard No. 5 hole, and made a 10-foot birdie at the 168-yard, par-3 13th.

In between those birdies at two of Colonial’s toughest holes, Spieth made a nearly 40-foot putt to save par after a wayward drive at No. 9. His drive at the 10th went into a concrete culvert for another bogey, and he missed the fairway right again at the 622-yard 11th, only to get back in the fairway and go on to a 2-foot birdie.

"Hit some very solid shots. With gusty winds, it’s not going to end up where you think it’s going to a lot of the time," Spieth said. "I felt like I missed some fairways by 1-5 yards today. That made a complete difference in the way the hole played."

Before his birdie-birdie finish, Spieth had double bogey at the 429-yard 15th, when he blasted from a fairway bunker through the green and into the water, and made bogey at the par-3 16th.

Mickelson, back at Hogan’s Alley for the first time since 2010, made an 8-foot putt at the 435-yard 7th hole, then hit his tee shot inside 2 feet of the cup at the par-3 8th. His 33-footer at No. 9 came after playing partner Matt Kuchar had just missed a slightly longer putt on the same line on their finishing hole.

When changes were made to the course after his 2008 victory, Mickelson missed the cut in 2010 with a chance to become the world’s No. 1 player. He later indicated that Colonial no longer suited his game.

"Nothing real specific," he said, when asked what changed his mind. "It’s been a while and I needed to … I felt it was in my best interest to get in contention and try to play more events and try to get the scores, results out of it."

Rahm was at Arizona State when he became the first two-time winner of the Hogan Award. His first competitive round at Colonial came a day after Arizona State’s women rallied to win their eighth NCAA championship, and first since 2009.

"To see them win in the fashion they did, it was amazing," said Rahm, who practiced with that team while in school. "The coolest thing is that’s the closest I’ll ever be to experiencing something like that and I’m happy for them. … To be honest, that energy and positivity probably helped me today."

PGA TOUR

Horschel’s wife opens up on battle with alcoholism

Brittany and Billy Horschel with their kid at par 3 contest at Augusta
(Harry How/Getty Images)
Associated Press

Billy Horschel’s emotions from winning the AT&T Byron Nelson went far beyond ending more than two years without a victory.

One day after Horschel was vague about issues off the course, his wife took to Twitter to reveal she is battling alcoholism. Brittany Horschel said last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of her sobriety.

“I write this nervously, skeptically, but also proudly because I have embraced the woman I have become over the past year,” she wrote in a poignant post . “One year ago, I began a journey to a healthy me, mentally and physically. I will keep his simple, ‘I am an alcoholic.’ I say that now without shame.”

Horschel and his wife met at Florida, where she played on the golf team.

She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, right as Horschel was winning the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship at the end of 2014 to capture the $10 million FedEx Cup. They had their second child in April.

Horschel declined to get into specifics on the extra layer of emotions after his playoff victory over Jason Day.

“Just life gets in the way sometimes and, you know, it’s truly special to be winning on something on a day like this that’s I honestly … I’m not able to talk about it right now,” he said. “But it’s just lot of stuff happens in the last year and this is just … this is nice.”

Brittany Horschel said in her post that her husband respectfully left her to answer it however she wanted, if at all.

“However, to not answer would not only be unfair to him, but to my own integrity,” she said.

She said she spent the end of last May through July in a treatment center in South Florida. She said her husband took full responsibility taking care of their first child, moving into a new home, competing on the PGA Tour and “God only knows what else and what all went through that man’s head during that time.”

“He silently battled through, with support from family and close friends, a very sad, scary and trying time,” she wrote.

PGA TOUR

Nelson’s Four Seasons finale: Horschel over Day in playoff

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(Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Billy Horschel won the AT&T Byron Nelson with a par on the first playoff hole Sunday after Jason Day pulled his 4-foot par putt left and past the hole.

That miss by Day almost wasn’t even needed for Horschel, whose 36-foot birdie chance was rolling straight toward the centre of the cup before stopping just short. He won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour and for the first time since taking the 2014 Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup title.

With a 1-under 69, including a 60-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole, Horschel matched Day at 12-under 268. Day had a 68.

Third-round leader James Hahn finished a stroke back after shooting 71. He just missed a miraculous eagle at the 18th hole that would have gotten him in the playoff with his playing partners.

Because of early morning rain that delayed the start Sunday, threesomes were used instead of the usual weekend twosomes. No one outside of that final group made a real charge to contend with the final trio.

The playoff wrapped up the Nelson’s 35th and final tournament in Irving. The event will shift next year to the new links-style Trinity Forest Golf Club south of downtown Dallas.

The tournament was first played in Irving in 1983, but its roots go back to 1944 as the Texas Victory Open at Lakewood Country Club, where Byron Nelson won a year before his streak of 11 PGA Tour victories in a row. In 1968, the tournament became the first named after a PGA Tour player.

Day, who got the first of his 10 PGA Tour victories at the 2010 Nelson, had the lead alone only once. He pitched in a 78-foot shot from the rough by the greenside bunker for a birdie at the 477-yard 15th, after two horrible shots to get in that position. His tee shot went into the rough to the far right under the trees, and his approach set up an awkward stance.

But at the par-5 573-yard 16th, the easiest hole at TPC Four Seasons, Day’s wayward tee shot hit a spectator. After making sure the woman was OK, his approach shot settled pin high on the green but a 9-foot birdie chance curled by the hole. Horschel, who earned $1.35 million, also got to that green in two, and two-putted from 44 feet for a tying birdie before they both parred the last two holes.

Hahn almost matched them at 12 under when his approach from 122 yards at the 18th hit on the green, spun back and skimmed over the edge of the cup. He made the 4-foot birdie putt to finish alone in third, ahead of Jason Kokrak.

Kokrak went into the weekend with a five-stroke lead, the largest ever after 36 holes at the Nelson. But he shot 72 on Saturday and closed with a 70 to get to 10 under.

Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, had a closing 69 to tie for 13th at 6 under.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia had birdies on six of his last eight holes Saturday to get within four strokes of the lead. But he was as quickly out of contention after giving back four strokes in a three-hole stretch early in the final round when he missed three putts of 5 feet or less on Nos. 2-4. His closing 74 put him 4 under and tied for 20th.

During the stretch when Hahn fell behind his playing partners, Horschel rolled in a 60-foot birdie putt at the par-4 14th after his poor approach that led him to toss his club in the air.

Hahn was leading alone again for the first time since the second hole, by one stroke over his playing partners, after making a 15-foot birdie off the fringe at the 312-yard 11th hole to go to 13 under.

After Day and Horschel bogeyed the 452-yard 12th, Hahn missed a chance to extend his lead there. But his 5-foot par putt curled around the cup, the first of his three consecutive bogeys that knocked him out of the lead for good.

Nick Taylor, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the top Canadian, finishing T9, after a bogey free, 5-under par 65 on Sunday. Taylor will jump 15 spots in the FedEx Cup rankings from 85th to 70 thanks his third top-10 of the season.

His best result of the season was a T8 at the Wells Fargo Championship, from May 4-7 at Eagle Point Golf Club, in Wilmington, N.C.

The full leaderboard can be seen here.

PGA TOUR

Hahn’s 64 gives him Nelson lead on a Day of birdie streaks

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(Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

James Hahn shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Saturday to take the lead after three rounds at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where Jason Kokrak’s record advantage disappeared.

Hahn settled for a 12-under 198 total after his eagle chance at the 16th and a birdie putt at 17 both stopped just inches short. The two-time PGA Tour winner was a stroke ahead of Billy Horschel, who birdied his last three holes for a 66 to take second place alone.

Jason Day had his own string of birdies, five in a row midway through his round and then a 60-footer at the 17th, during a 63 that was the best of the day and got him to 10 under. The fourth-ranked player in the world was tied for third with Kokrak, who shot a 72 after setting a Nelson 36-hole record with a five-stroke lead.

Cameron Tringale and Sergio Garcia also finished with birdies on Nos. 16-18. Tringale was fifth at 9 under after a 67, with defending Nelson champion and Masters winner Garcia tied for sixth at 8 under after a 64 that also included three straight birdies at Nos. 11-13.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson shot a 71 with five bogeys and four birdies to reach 5 under, seven strokes off the lead and tied for 19th. He had started the day in a six-way tie for third and six strokes behind Kokrak.

Hahn shared the first-round lead after an opening 64, but slipped back with a 70 on Friday before another impressive round for him at TPC Four Seasons that included a 65-foot chip-in birdie at the par-4 No. 3 hole. This is Hahn’s fourth Nelson, and he has shot 64 or 65 in half of his 14 rounds there.

The last birdie for Day in his long streak came after driving the green at the 311-yard par-4 11th and two-putting from 37 feet.

Day’s only bogey came when he blasted out of greenside bunker at the 14th, then pushed his 4-foot par chance just left of the home and 2 1/2 feet past. When his 60-footer at the par-3 17th caught the left edge of the cup and dropped in, Day lifted both arms into the air, pumping his right fist while still grasping the putter in the other hand.

About the same time Day’s 16-foot birdie try at No. 18 curled just under the hole, causing him to wince, Hahn went to 11 under for the lead with his 13-foot birdie at the 15th hole.

Hahn then added another birdie at the 527-yard par-5 16th after come up just short of an eagle on the easiest-playing hole at TPC Four Seasons.

Kokrak had his first bogey in 34 holes after missing the fairway at No. 3, then three-putting on the sloping green. He quickly made up that stroke with a 15-foot birdie at No. 4 and was back to 12 under with a five-stroke lead. But his advantage was down to one by time he finished his next hole, the par-3 5th, with a triple bogey.

Garcia beat Brook Koepka in a playoff last year to become the first two-time Nelson winner since Irving became the tournament’s home in 1983. Day, who won the Nelson in 2010, could match that Sunday in the last round at TPC Four Seasons before a move to the new Trinity Forest Golf Club in south Dallas next year.

The top Canadian is Winnipeg’s Nick Taylor, who is T36, at 2-under par.

The full leaderboard can be seen here.

PGA TOUR

Spieth out at Byron Nelson; Kokrak has career best 62, leads by 5

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J. Kokrak (Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

While big-hitting Jason Kokrak has an AT&T Byron Nelson record five-stroke lead through 36 holes, he knows that is only halfway with plenty of other players who could make a weekend charge.

That includes top-ranked Dustin Johnson. But not local favourite Jordan Spieth after he missed the cut Friday for the first time at the tournament where he made his debut as a 16-year-old high school junior.

“Yeah, a bit shocking that’s how it happened,” said Spieth, who missed the cut by a stroke after a 5-under 75 that included a 9 at the par-5 16th hole after he hit two tee shots out of bounds.

Kokrak, ranked 128th in the world, shot a bogey-free 8-under 62 for his career-best scoring round and matched the Nelson’s 36-hole record at 12-under 128. No one has ever had a bigger lead there after two rounds than his five strokes over Billy Horschel (65), who finished with three consecutive birdies.

“It’s 36 holes. You’ve got the No. 1 player in the world chasing you, you’ve got x-number of other players that are outstanding players,” Kokrak said, when asked about having wiggle room. “Same game plan, just give myself birdie opportunities.”

Maybe as surprising as Kokrak’s big lead halfway through the last Nelson to be played at TPC Four Seasons is the 23-year-old Spieth, the 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion, done playing this week.

Spieth also missed the cut last week in The Players Championship. He last missed consecutive cuts in 2015.

With a 3-over total after the horrendous 16th hole, and needing at least one birdie, Spieth’s 17-foot birdie try at No. 17 curled by the cup, and he missed a 14-footer on 18.

“It didn’t need to happen. Just playing fine and I tried to just, you know, press it to try to reach the green in two, and then I tried to do it again,” Spieth said, referring to the par-5 16th.

Kokrak finished with a nice par save after driving way right at the 18th. The ball landed in the rough closer to the first fairway with a temporary concession stand between him and the hole. He didn’t take potential relief because that line would have put him directly behind a tree, but he hit the ball back in the fairway short of the green before chipping to 6 feet.

“I made a lot of birdies out there but it was nice,” Kokrak said. “Just keeping a clean card is always a goal. … It was nice to get it up and down.”

The only other time Kokrak had the 36-hole lead in 146 career PGA Tour starts was at the 2016 Northern Trust Open, where he ended up with a career-best tie for second.

Johnson had his second consecutive 67 and was tied for third with Byeong Hun An (bogey-free 66), Bud Cauley (67), Cameron Tringale (68), Jhonttan Vegas (68) and first-round co-leader James Hahn (70).

Sergio Garcia, the Masters champion who is defending his second Nelson title, birdied six of his last 15 holes for a 65 to get to 2 under. He opened with a 73, and was at 4 over for the tournament after his only bogey Friday on his third hole.

This is Johnson’s third PGA Tour event since a freak fall forced him to miss the Masters with a bruised back after winning three consecutive tournaments before that. He tied for second at the Wells Fargo Championship in his return to the tour two weeks ago, and then had a career-best 12th place finish at The Players Championship.

“The game is still not quite as sharp as it was leading into Augusta, but it’s getting there,” Johnson said. “It’s getting close.”

His only bogey was at his final hole, the 431-yard ninth hole, when his approach landed in rough between a bunker and the green after the wind shifted on him.

Spieth first played a PGA Tour event at age 16 on a sponsor’s exemption in the 2010 tournament, and tied for 16th _ still his best Nelson finish. He missed his high school graduation ceremony in 2011 to play after making the cut again.

After an opening birdie Friday, Spieth missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt at the par-3 second hole. He had five bogeys and four birdies, plus saved par from a drop at the edge of a curb after his tee shot at the 316-yard 11th hole rolled to a stop on a neighbourhood street, before the quadruple at No. 16.

The full leaderboard can be seen here.

PGA TOUR

Koepka’s late trouble leaves Hahn, Barnes atop Nelson

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(Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Brooks Koepka leaned in for a closer look at his ball buried in deep rough when a critter he couldn’t identify caused him to jump back with a bit of a startled look.

His best guesses were a frog or rat, though he was too disoriented to be sure. It definitely wasn’t a birdie, because Koepka was on his way to finishing with two straight bogeys after sharing the lead late in his opening round of the AT&T Byron Nelson on Thursday.

A year after losing to Sergio Garcia in a playoff at the TPC Four Seasons, Koepka settled for a 3-under 67 and trailed co-leaders James Hahn and Ricky Barnes by three shots.

“It jumped out and I didn’t know what was going on, freaked me out,” said Koepka, who needed help from a bevy of tournament volunteers and fans to find his ball while hitting two shots out of the thick grass and just missing a chip that would have saved par on the ninth hole, his last.

“I was so in amazement of what just happened, whether it jumped out, scared me. I couldn’t see it because it ran underneath the grass again.”

Matt Kuchar, Jhonattan Vegas, Jason Kokrak and Cameron Tringale shot 66, and top-ranked Dustin Johnson topped the group at 67, a stroke ahead of fourth-ranked Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, the No. 6 player competing in his hometown event.

Masters and defending Nelson champion Garcia, ranked fifth, had three bogeys on the front nine and just one birdie in a 73 that left him tied for 93rd.

The event is the last at TPC Four Seasons, ending the tournament’s 35-year run in Irving. The tournament will move to the new links-style Trinity Forest Golf Club south of downtown Dallas next year.

Tringale was the only player with a lower score than Johnson in a blustery afternoon round, while Hahn and Barnes played in slightly calmer conditions in the morning.

“It was blowing hard and it was gusty,” said Johnson, who has four top-10 finishes in seven previous Nelsons. “I thought it was very difficult to judge the wind and control the ball. Felt like there were a lot of times I hit really good shots that didn’t end up in good spots.”

Using a mallet putter instead of his traditional blade, Spieth made a 10-footer for his second straight birdie on his 17th hole, the par-4 eighth. Normally one of the best putters on tour, the Dallas native was frustrated with that part of his game after missing the cut at the Players Championship last week.

“It’s nothing crazy new,” said Spieth, whose best Nelson finish remains his tie for 16th as a 16-year-old amateur in 2010. “It helps me line up a bit better and that’s kind of been my struggle is lining the putter up where I want to. I just haven’t quite dialed in the speed yet.”

Day birdied the par-4 11th when he chipped to 12 feet off a cart path behind the green after a 326-yard drive on the 309-yard hole. On the next hole, he had to bend his second shot around tree from the rough and saved par. Day eagled the par-5 seventh and curled in a 28-footer for birdie on 18.

“In this wind, I think everyone’s kind of scrambling,” said Day, whose first PGA Tour win came at the 2010 Nelson. “I was not going to drop it all the way back onto the other side of the road. It was just in long grass and I wouldn’t be able to flop it over. It was quite a simple shot. You just had to contact it correctly.”

Hahn finished a bogey-free round with a 22-foot birdie putt on 18 to match his lowest round of the season. The two-time tour winner saved par with a 24-footer on 14. Hahn’s first four birdies were inside 10 feet.

Barnes, who has made four straight cuts after missing 10 of his previous 13, started a run of three straight birdies with a chip-in on his 15th hole, the par-4 sixth. He had two bogeys.

“I’m having signs of brilliancy,” said Barnes, still looking for his first win in his 255th PGA Tour start. “I just need to put it all together.”

Koepka birdied his first two holes and was 5 under through 13 holes before stumbling late. On No. 8, his 17th hole, Koepka had to lift a folder lawn chair to uncover his ball behind the green. He missed the par putt.

After missing on a birdie chance for the win in 2016, Koepka went in the water on 18, the first playoff hole, to open the door for Garcia to become the only two-time winner since Lord Byron’s event moved to the Four Seasons.

“I didn’t play very good today,” Koepka said. “Even last year, I didn’t play very good around this place and just managed to get a decent score. Three under isn’t very good around here. I’ll take it for how I played.”

After a 1-over par 69, Winnipeg’s Nick Taylor, is the top Canadian in a tie for 26th.

The full leaderboard can be seen here

PGA TOUR

Si Woo Kim becomes youngest winner of Players Championship

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(Warren Little/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

Si Woo Kim of South Korea became the youngest winner of The Players Championship with a game and nerves well beyond his 21 years.

On a TPC Sawgrass course where anything can go wrong without notice, Kim was the only player to go bogey-free Sunday and closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in golf’s biggest tournament this side of the majors.

He also managed to take all the suspense from the TPC Sawgrass.

All that could stop him was the final two holes, when Kim had a two-shot lead and faced a tee shot to an island green, and then a closing hole with water all the way down the left side. Kim hit the 17th green and two-putted from 45 feet, and he smashed another drive right down the middle.

The only drama at the end came from Ian Poulter, who was happy just to be here.

Poulter, who only two weeks ago was spared his full PGA Tour status because of a clerical oversight, was the only player to seriously challenge Kim until he ran out of holes. He pushed his approach to the 18th so far to the right that it caromed off hospitality tents and bounced off a cart path into a palmetto bush. He took a penalty drop, then hit wedge over the trees and nearly holed it, tapping in for par.

Poulter, who had gone 39 holes without a bogey until a crucial one at No. 12, closed with a 71. He tied for second with Louis Oosthuizen (73).

There was plenty of excitement Sunday.

Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain hit 8-iron that bounded off the side of a bunker and into the cup for an albatross 2 on the par-5 16th. He followed that with a birdie on the 17th, and then holed a long par putt from just off the 18th green. That gave him a 70 and a tie for fourth with Kyle Stanley, a co-leader after 54 holes who shot 75.

The other co-leader was J.B. Holmes, and it was a horror show for the Kentuckian.

Holmes shot 40 on the front nine and still had hope until bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes. And then it turned ugly. He hit too shots into the water on the 17th and make a quintuple-bogey 8, then finished with a double bogey to close with an 84.

He was tied for the lead at the start of the day and finished in a tie for 41st.

It was the worst finish by a 54-hole leader in tournament history, a record that previously belonged to Graeme McDowell (2011) and Alex Cejka (2009), who both shot 79.

Holmes wasn’t alone. Defending champion Jason Day closed with an 80, keeping very much in tact the streak of no winner ever repeating in the Players. Rickie Fowler, who won the year before, closed with a 79.

As for the winner? That was rarely in doubt over the back nine. Even though Kim only hit eight greens in regulation, he went six straight holes on the back without facing a par putt over 2 feet. Kim bumped a fairway metal to just over 3 feet on the final hole and rapped in the par putt to being the celebration.

“I still can’t believe I’m the champion, and I’m the youngest champion,” Kim said. “I’m looking forward to working hard from now on.”

Kim said he wasn’t nervous because of his victory last year in the Wyndham Championship, which gave him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. This victory comes with perks beyond the $1.89 million first prize. He now gets a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and a three-year exemption to the Masters.

The previous youngest champion of The Players was Adam Scott, who was 23 when he won in 2005.

Kim becomes the second player from South Korea to win The Players Championship, joining K.J. Choi in 2011.

“From that moment, I was dreaming that I really want to be in this tournament,” Kim said through a translator. “And I’m very glad I could practice with him. He gave me a lot of advice. That’s why I could do well.”

Just over four years ago, Kim came over to America to play the final version of PGA Tour’s qualifying school. He earned a card at age 17, but he could not become a PGA Tour member until he turned 18 the following June. That card effectively went to waste, and Kim spent the next two years on the developmental tour until earning his card back to the big leagues.

Now he’s here to stay for at least the next five years, and based on his game, probably much longer.

Mackenzie Hughes, of Dundas, Ont., was the top Canadian finishing T16, after being the 18-hole leader.

The full leaderboard can be seen here.

PGA TOUR

Holmes, Stanley share lead at Players Championship

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(Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Canadian Press

The only bogey J.B. Holmes made Saturday could have been a lot worse, and he pieced together a 2-under 70 in strong wind on a punishing course to share the lead with Kyle Stanley going into the final round of The Players Championship.

Holmes hit his tee shot so far to the right on the 14th hole that it went into the water on the 12th hole. He hit a blind shot from 230 yards into the wind to a bunker and managed to get up-and-down to limit the damage, which is what Saturday at the TPC Sawgrass was all about.

“I usually can make a bunch of birdies, so if I can just narrow it down to one bogey, then I’m usually in good shape,” Holmes said.

Stanley got his trouble out of the way early with three bogeys in four holes, and then was bogey-free the rest of the way. He saved par from the back bunker on the 18th hole on the Players Stadium Course for a 72.

“You just kind of have to remind yourself that even though you’re a little bit over par, on the leaderboard I was still in a pretty good spot,” Stanley said.

They were at 9-under (207), one shot clear of Louis Oosthuizen, who fired a one over, 73, Saturday.

The TPC Sawgrass has trouble at every turn even in calm conditions. Throw in a relentless wind that the final half of the field faced all afternoon, and it was as much about staying in neutral without losing ground – or crashing.

And there was plenty of that.

Jon Rahm of Spain, the best newcomer on the PGA Tour, was five shots behind when he started and missed the 54-hole cut with an 82. Matt Kuchar took a 9 on the 14th hole and shot 81, his highest score ever on this course. Phil Mickelson shot a 78.

Of the 82 players in the field, 49 made a double bogey or worse.

That what’s made Ian Poulter’s round remarkable in so many ways. Two weeks ago, Poulter wasn’t even in the field and no longer had full status until the PGA Tour realized it made a clerical error related to his return from a foot injury. The Ryder Cup stalwart made the most of the opportunity with the only bogey-free round of the day, and even though he had just one birdie, that 71 was enough to give him a serious chance.

“I’ve definitely been freer this week playing golf than I have in the last month, and I think it shows on the course,” Poulter said. “I think it shows probably in my attitude on the course. It’s a big deal. It was a nice phone call to receive, and I definitely feel better on the golf course for it.”

Poulter wasn’t alone in having a shot at a big payoff from the $10.5 million purse.

Si Woo Kim was bogey-free until he hit a shot off the bulkhead and into the water on the par-5 16th and missed a short par putt. He bounced back with a birdie on the island-green 17th and shot 68 to finish two shots out of the lead.

Emiliano Grillo of Argentina had seven birdies in his round of 67 and was tied with Poulter at 6-under 210.

And right behind them was Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who was 4 over through six holes in the opening round and began his recovery project with a hole-in-one on the infamous 17th. Garcia kept pecking away, and his 67 in the third round left him only four shots behind.

The low round belonged to Pat Perez, who shot a 66, with a bogey on the final hole, before the wind began to blow consistently and the TPC Sawgrass became more of a challenge than it already is.

“This is a really tough golf course. It doesn’t matter how good you’re feeling, you have to play really well,” Grillo said. ‘It doesn’t matter who you are.”

That goes for Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1, who looked as though he might have a chance to at least get in the mix until tiny mistakes led to bogeys, and a big mistake led to double bogey on the 16th hole. Johnson shot 40 on the back nine for a 74 and was 11 shots out.

Defending champion Jason Day had two double bogeys in his round of 73 and was eight shots behind, trying to keep alive hopes of becoming the first player to win back-to-back since this tournament began in 1974.

Rory McIlroy could only manage a 71. He will play with Day on Sunday, also eight behind.

Mackenzie Hughes, Dundas, Ont., is T25 at even par.

The full leaderboard can be seen here.