Column: Golf fortunes change quickly for Antoine Rozner
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUSTIN, Texas – For a sport known for its glacial pace, fortunes can change quickly in golf. That was the cutoff for the top 64 players to get in the Dell Technologies Match Play. Rozner won all four of his matches at Formby Golf Club on the Lancashire coast of England. Rozner said he spoke to Dubuisson last week to find out why he did so well in the Match Play in 2014. I'm trying to take it match after match, step after step.”He makes it sound like a slow process.
Match Play field set with possibilities that remain for more
Then, Brian Harman shot 69 to tie for third at The Players Championship and went from No. Most curious is the case of Gary Woodland, the former U.S. Open champion and a Match Play finalist in 2015. Under the PGA Tour guidelines, he has to self-isolate for 10 days. THE BOUNCEIt didn’t take Collin Morikawa long to learn how to win on the PGA Tour. A year later, he won a playoff over Justin Thomas at Muirfield Village and a major at the PGA Championship.
Woodland among 3 players to test positive for coronavirus
It matched the most players who have had to withdraw from one tournament because of a positive test since the PGA Tour returned from the COVID-19 pandemic in June. The tour said Scott Piercy and Doc Redman also tested positive. Three players also tested positive before tournaments at the RSM Classic at Sea Island in November, and the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit in early July. The positive tests follow two weeks of the Florida events on the PGA Tour allowing limited fans, with roughly 8,000 in attendance at Bay Hill and The Players Championship. Woodland, who won the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and has been coping with a torn labrum in his hip, and Redman missed the cut at The Players Championship.
Big finish sends Garcia to big lead at Players Championship
Garcia thought he had plenty of time to get from the range to the 10th tee to start his round. Then he fired off a 7-under 65, capped off by a birdie-birdie-eagle finish for a two-shot lead over Brian Harman. AdWhen darkness brought the first round to a halt — 21 players didn't finish — there already were 13 scores of 80 or higher. “For some reason, it just kind of fits my eye,” said Garcia, who won The Players in 2008 and has twice been runner-up. British Open champion Shane Lowry took bogey on his final hole for a 68 and was tied with Corey Conners and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Woodland returns as wounded US Open champion
Woodland shot another 74 on Saturday and appeared certain to miss the cut. Maybe we can fix it together.”WEEKEND WITHOUT PHILPhil Mickelson walked down the first fairway of the East course at Winged Foot, the path to the parking lot. Mickelson never considered his return to Winged Foot to be about redemption, which was a good thing. Lefty opened with a 79, his highest opening round in the 29 times he has played the U.S. Open. No one is ever happy with that kind of finish, but a course like Winged Foot and a major like the U.S. Open brings perspective.
The Latest: Berger off to quick start in US Open 2nd round
After a brutal second round at Winged Foot, the cut line fell at 6-over par, taking some big names with it. ___6:37 p.m.Patrick Reed has surged to the lead in a difficult second round at the U.S. Open. Thomas started the round at 5 under after posting a 65 for the lowest opening round at Winged Foot in a U.S. Open. ___11 a.m.Daniel Berger is making a move in the U.S. Open even as Winged Foot appears to be tougher on the golfers in the second round. ___Andrew Putnam withdrew from the U.S. Open at Winged Foot early in his second round.
US Open sees red in Round 1. Will Winged Foot strike back?
Not coincidentally, the big question heading into Round 1 was whether the century-old course would prove too tough even for the world’s best golfers. In five previous Opens played at Winged Foot, only two players have ever finished the tournament under par. We’ll find out whether, and how much, the USGA feels stung by the assault on par beginning with Round 2. And there’s plenty of spots left on those fast greens where a clown’s mouth would actually be a welcome distraction. “They certainly were looking to have the lowest scores (in the first round), given the conditions that we have as well.
Brooks Koepka out of US Open with lingering injury
FILE - Brooks Koepka gets treated for an injury on the 12th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, in San Francisco. Two-time champion Brooks Koepka withdrew from the U.S. Open on Wednesday, Sept. 9, because of lingering pain in his left knee that has troubled him most of the year. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)Two-time champion Brooks Koepka withdrew from the U.S. Open on Wednesday because of lingering pain in his left knee that has troubled him for most of the year. Unfortunately, I have decided to withdraw from next week's U.S. Open, Koepka said. He was not at the 2016 British Open because of an ankle injury, and he missed the 2018 Masters with a wrist injury.
Woods faces a new, stern test to get to FedEx Cup finale
Woods, Charles Howell III, Adam Scott and Paul Casey are the only players who competed in that 2003 U.S. Open (Woods tied for 20th). Amateur at Olympia Fields, which featured five other players in the BMW Championship field, including PGA champion Collin Morikawa. For some, this week is about improving their position going to the Tour Championship, which features a staggered start to par. Woods said he looked at few videos of Olympia Fields before he arrived. This golf course is set up more toward an Open than it is anything else.___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/apf-Golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Column: 'Big Game Brooks' faces major test to his reputation
Brooks Koepka, left, walks with instructor Pete Cowen during practice for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. Either way, the PGA Championship should be the perfect place to end it. He said that last year going into the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, right before he set the major championship record for the lowest 36-hole score (128), built a seven-shot lead and held on to win. Yeah, I still feel that way, Koepka said. Just go play golf exactly like I know how, and if I do that, then yeah, I probably should win.Easy.
Koepka's biggest challenge is history in bid for 3 in a row
Woods won majors at a faster clip than anyone. That's why the biggest challenge facing Brooks Koepka as he goes for a third straight PGA Championship this week at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco is more about history than his troublesome left knee and recent form. Now it's about Walter Hagen, who won the PGA Championship four straight times (1924-27) when it was match play. For someone with this much history on the line, Koepka still has managed to avoid the spotlight in the weeks leading into the PGA Championship. He has gone back-to-back in the Masters and British Open, and twice in the PGA Championship.
Finau, Palmer share early lead at Memorial as Tiger hangs on
Tony Finau hits from the second tee during the second round of the Memorial golf tournament, Friday, July 17, 2020, in Dublin, Ohio. That kind of score isn't happening at Muirfield Village, where the greens are getting faster by the hour. The way Muirfield Village is playing, both are impressive. Woods, a five-time winner at Muirfield Village, has never missed the cut in 17 previous times at the Memorial. But I battled back well.Palmer played the Workday Charity Open last week at Muirfield Village and missed the cut.
Asia swing unlikely as PGA Tour weighs going to western US
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)DUBLIN, Ohio The PGA Tour first started going to Asia in 2009 with the HSBC Champions, a World Golf Championship. David Lipsky wouldnt have guessed then how that would parlay into his best shot at finally getting a PGA Tour card. The Dunhill was a co-sanctioned European Tour event, which put him in the top 10 in the Race to Dubai. Being among the top 10 in points at the end of the season at least can get him into opposite-field PGA Tour events, and it will go a long way toward a PGA Tour card for the fall of 2021. Lipsky reached the final stage of Q-school in 2012 the last time it awarded PGA Tour cards and finished poorly.
What Would Have Been: US Open final round for Father's Day
FILE - In this June 16, 2019, file photo, Gary Woodland poses with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open Championship golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the golf to watch on Father's Day this year will not be the U.S. Open as is usually the case. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)The golf to watch on Father's Day this year won't be the U.S. Open as is usually the case. There also will be no live baseball to watch this week from either the major leagues or the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. TRIVIA BREAK: When was the last time the U.S. Open wasn't played on Father's Day? TRIVIA ANSWER: 1975, when the U.S. Open finished on June 22, the week after Father's Day.
Schauffele leads Colonial over host of stars in tour return
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)FORT WORTH, Texas The quiet of Colonial made Xander Schauffele feel as though he were back home in San Diego playing with his friends. Colonial is the first of five tournaments in the return to golf that doesn't allow spectators. He was one off the lead, and his tie for second is his best 54-hole position since the Colonial last year. He shot 72 in the final round and tied for eighth. Harold Varner III, still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, started with a one-shot lead and birdied the opening hole.
Steele takes 1-shot lead at midpoint of The Honda Classic
Steele shot a 3-under 67 on Friday, getting to 5 under for the week and putting himself a shot clear of J.T. This is Steele’s ninth time playing the Honda and the first time he’s ended any round at PGA National with the lead. I don't feel like it's a course you can just jump out your first time and have it nailed. ... Michael Thompson’s record streak of Honda rounds without a ball in the water on the Bear Trap is over. Thompson put his tee ball on the par-3 15th in the water, his first such mistake in 30 Honda rounds at PGA National.