Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood

Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood
1 / 3
Adam Schenk tees off on the 11th hole during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood
2 / 3
Jordan Spieth reads a putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament. (Reinhold Matay-USA Today Sports)
Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood
3 / 3
Tommy Fleetwood tees off on the second hole during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Short Url
Updated 19 March 2023

Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood

Schenk’s late birdie gives him lead over Spieth, Fleetwood
  • Adam Schenk was at 8-under 205 and will play in the final group with Spieth, whose game appears to be rounding into form with the Masters on the horizon

PALM HARBOR, Florida: Adam Schenk looked as though he and everyone else would get passed by Jordan Spieth on Saturday at the Valspar Championship. When a wild and windy round finished, Schenk was still the player everyone was chasing.
Schenk hit his approach to the 18th hole to 5 feet and made the birdie putt for a 1-under 70, giving him a one-shot lead over Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood as he goes after his first victory on the PGA Tour.
“We didn’t have a ton go our way until the very end,” Schenk said.
Neither did Fleetwood, who opened with a birdie and followed with 12 straight pars. He wound up with a bogey-free 69 and realized not losing ground was one of the best things he had going on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
Spieth, however, is who dictated the action.
He had a 69 and had to decide when it was over whether that was a good score on account of all the mistakes he made or a wasted chance to separate himself from the field. Spieth opened with a 6-iron to 7 feet for eagle. He led by as many as two shots.
But he made only three pars over his final 12 holes — on four of those occasions, he followed a bogey with a birdie. But that ended on the 18th when he hit a tree on his drive, went into a front bunker and then blasted by the pin to the collar for a final bogey.
“I didn’t have my best stuff in the approach game, but overall I’m in a good spot for tomorrow,” Spieth said.
Schenk was at 8-under 205 and will play in the final group with Spieth, whose game appears to be rounding into form with the Masters on the horizon.
Schenk is playing his 10th week in a row because his wife, Courtney, is expecting their first child at the end of April. He also is entered in the field next week in the Dominican Republic, though a victory could change everything.
That feels a long way off.
Eight players were within three shots of the lead. Webb Simpson had a 68 that included a bogey on the par-5 14th when he hit into the water while trying to lay up. He was two shots behind, along with Taylor Moore (69) and Cody Gribble (70), who had short birdie putts on the 16th and 17th hole and narrowly missed a 20-footer in his bid to birdie all three holes as part of the “Snake Pit” on the Copperhead course.
Patton Kizzire had a 67 and posted early, not sure where that would leave him. Spieth had a lot to do with that and he wound up keeping everyone close.
“Eventful,” is how Spieth described his round.
He missed a 5-foot par putt on No. 7. He hit 6-iron to 12 feet for birdie on No. 8. He missed a 7-foot par putt on the 10th, and then hit a bunker shot that landed in the collar and bounced out to 3 feet for birdie on the par-5 11th.
Spieth followed a three-putt bogey on the 13th with a 3-wood to 35 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 14th. It was like that throughout the back nine, and Spieth looked to have settled down with a 10-foot par putt on the 17th, only to send his tee shot into the trees on 18.
“I made a few too many mistakes, but overall in these conditions, I think I would have signed for 2 under,” Spieth said.
The weather was as wild as his round, gusting to 20 mph and shifting to an entirely different direction as the final groups were on the back nine. Players were hitting 9-iron into the par-3 17th earlier in the round, and Gribble had to hit 5-iron late in the day.
Rain that was expected never arrived, though Innisbrook was expecting showers overnight that could put a premium on scoring.
Fleetwood was the steadiest of the bunch. He made birdie on the par-5 opening hole and the par-5 14th, and was had a collection of big par putts to keep some momentum.
“I kept plugging away,” Fleetwood said. “Pars were good. Birdies were hard to come by. The middle stretch the par saves on 9 and 10 were good putts to hole. I never went backward. I was very happy with anything par or better.”
 


LIV Golf stars ready for ‘world class’ Valderrama challenge

LIV Golf stars ready for ‘world class’ Valderrama challenge
Updated 05 June 2023

LIV Golf stars ready for ‘world class’ Valderrama challenge

LIV Golf stars ready for ‘world class’ Valderrama challenge
  • Local hero and former Masters champion Sergio Garcia competing alongside compatriots Eugenio Chacarra and David Puig

SOTOGRANDE, Spain: LIV Golf is preparing for its first stop of the season in continental Europe with the LIV Golf Valderrama set to take place at the Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain, from June 30 to July 2. 

General admission tickets and hospitality packages are now available for Spanish fans to see local hero and former Masters champion Sergio Garcia competing alongside compatriots Eugenio Chacarra and David Puig, marking the young Spanish stars’ professional debuts in their home country.

Some of the biggest names in golf will be challenging for the title, including five-time major winner and 2023 PGA Champion Brooks Koepka, reigning Open champion Cameron Smith, six-time major champion Phil Mickelson and two-time major champions Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

Garcia, the captain of Fireballs GC, has won three professional titles at Valderrama – site of LIV Golf’s eighth event of 2023 for the league’s 48 players and 12 teams.

The field features 13 major champions including Bryson Dechambeau, Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, and Charl Schwartzel, as well as rising stars including Abraham Ancer, Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch.   

Mickelson competed in the 1997 Ryder Cup and 1999 WGC American Express Championship at Valderrama.

Unlike the World Golf Hall of Famer, many of LIV Golf’s international stars – notably those from the US – will be teeing it up in Spain for first time.

The venue will be familiar territory for a number of the field’s European players, including former world number one Lee Westwood who competed in the 1997 Ryder Cup and won the Volvo Masters in that same year, Ian Poulter, who won there in 2004, and McDowell, who also won at Valderrama in 2010.

“We are thrilled to bring LIV Golf to Real Club Valderrama, a world class course with a storied history,” said Greg Norman, Commissioner and CEO of LIV Golf. “We are a global league, and this event will showcase the game’s top talent for a country rich with tradition and passion for the sport. It will be another exciting milestone for LIV, and we look forward to creating a memorable experience for players and fans alike.”


McIlroy tied for lead at Memorial by making fewest mistakes

McIlroy tied for lead at Memorial by making fewest mistakes
Updated 04 June 2023

McIlroy tied for lead at Memorial by making fewest mistakes

McIlroy tied for lead at Memorial by making fewest mistakes
  • Thirteen players were separated by two shots, nine more were only three shots out of the lead
  • The big move came from Keegan Bradley, who made the cut on the number

DUBLIN, Ohio: Rory McIlroy realized Muirfield Village was playing so tough that he set a goal of just trying to break 70. He didn’t quite get there, and his 2-under 70 still was enough for him to share the lead Saturday in the Memorial.

It helped that Hideki Matsuyama went from leading to dropping off the leaderboard in a span of six holes. And that Patrick Cantlay went into the water and over the green on his way to a triple bogey. David Lipsky bogeyed his last two holes.

What remained amid a few rumbles of thunder — but no weather delays — was an opportunity for just about everyone who had a tee time Sunday.

Thirteen players were separated by two shots. Nine more were only three shots out of the lead.

Lipsky’s two closing bogeys gave him a 72, while Si Woo Kim overcome two double bogeys for a 71. They joined McIlroy at 6-under 210.

It’s the highest 54-hole lead since 1990, when the weather was so atrocious that the final round was canceled and Greg Norman won at even-par 216.

McIlroy ran into trouble in the right rough on the 10th and had to scramble for a bogey. He pulled his tee shot on the par-5 11th and caught a break when it stopped short of going into the creek. That’s when he set his goal for the day to break 70 by avoiding mistakes and picking up some birdies on a few of the more scorable holes.

It didn’t quite work out that way. He chipped in for birdie on the dangerous par-3 12th. He also hit an approach to a back pin on the 17th that rolled past the cup to 7 feet and set up one of only eight birdies on that hole all round.

Just as sweet was the 18th, where his putt from the back of the green to a front pin ran nearly 10 feet by the cup and he holed that for par. McIlroy had several par putts from between 5 and 8 feet, all of them important on a day like this.

“I was really happy with how I scored out there, and how I just sort of hung in there for most of the day,” McIlroy said.

He will be in the final group with Kim, who one-putted his last seven holes, saving par from a front bunker on the 18th.

All this was made possible largely by Matsuyama, a former Memorial winner, who birdied his first two holes and looked to be on his way. And then it quickly fell apart — a bad chip on the par-3 eighth, a three-putt on the ninth and his big blunder on the par-3 12th — tee shot into the water, then over the green from the drop area and a triple bogey.

Cantlay, a two-time Memorial winner, had only one big mistake. He went for the green from the rough on the par-4 sixth and came up short and into the water, then went long into the rough and didn’t get up-and-down, making a triple bogey.

Otherwise, Cantlay made 14 pars, a pair of birdies and a bogey. He and Matsuyama, despite a big number on each of their cards, were two shots behind going into Sunday.

The big move came from Keegan Bradley, who made the cut on the number. He teed off at 8:15 a.m. and finished as the leaders were just starting to warm up. Bradley made nine birdies in his round of 65, and now he’s only two shots behind.

Viktor Hovland (69) and Mark Hubbard (72) were in the large group one shot behind at 5-under 211. Hubbard bogeyed his last three holes for the second time this week. He didn’t let it bother him on Thursday, and he felt the same way Saturday.

“I’m not happy with my finish again, but at the same time, I made three pretty good bogey putts,” Hubbard said.

His strategy on a day like this: “Just try and make a lot of birdies on the par 5s and not make doubles on the hard holes.”

Justin Suh, the 36-hole leader, didn’t stay there for long. He started bogey-bogey, then found the water on No. 3 for a double bogey. He didn’t make his first birdie — his only one — until the 14th hole. Suh had a 77.

He was still only three shots behind, along with Jordan Spieth (72).

Of the 22 players separated by three shots, nine have never won on the PGA Tour. One of those was Lipsky, who doubts he’ll get too wrapped up in looking at the leaderboard.

“It’s too hard to focus on anything else but your game,” he said.


Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts on steamy day at the Memorial

Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts on steamy day at the Memorial
Updated 03 June 2023

Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts on steamy day at the Memorial

Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts on steamy day at the Memorial
  • Suh won the Korn Ferry Tour points title last year, and he’s been on the upward trend
  • The Japanese star rolled in a series of birdie putts for a tournament-best 7-under 65

DUBLIN, Ohio: Justin Suh signed for a 6-under 66 at the Memorial and then made a few stops to speak with the media. His putter stayed with him the entire time, which probably was wise.

The way it behaved Friday, when he holed eight putts from the 10-foot range or longer, he might not want to let it out of his sight.

Suh made one last birdie on the 18th that gave him a one-shot lead over past champion Hideki Matsuyama, with two-time Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay another shot behind.

“On the first hole, I made a 12-footer for par on the fringe. I just kind of kept the confidence with the putter going,” Suh said.

Two of his longer putts were to save par, and there were plenty of birdies along the way on another sunny, hot afternoon at Muirfield Village.

Matsuyama and Cantlay played in the morning, two players who consider the course Jack Nicklaus built among their favorites all year. Matsuyama’s putting was equal to Suh produced in the afternoon, rolling in big birdie putts on his way to a tournament-best 65.

“To make those putts at 7 and 8 were huge,” Matsuyama said. “I made some good par-saving putts today. The course is playing tough, especially the greens. If the greens get even harder than they are now, it’s going to be a challenge this weekend. But today, the putts went in and so I’m satisfied.”

Cantlay was superb again from tee-to-green — the brand of golf that usually succeeds at Muirfield Village — and made enough putts for a 67. Several burned the edge of the cup. He also made a 50-foot birdie putt from the back of the green on No. 17.

The course played about a stroke easier, though it was a fair balance. Both days, the morning wave had relative calm and warm, the afternoon wave got wind and heat.

Suh was at 8-under 136 going into the week as he aims for his first PGA Tour title.

The PGA Tour packaged him with a strong college class in 2019 that featured Suh, who reached No. 1 as an amateur while playing at Southern California; Collin Morikawa of Cal; US Amateur champion Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State.

Within weeks of turning pro, Wolff and Morikawa were PGA Tour winners. Hovland was not too far behind. Suh began missing cuts, dealt with a wrist injury and took a different route. He said it wasn’t difficult to watch their instant success.

“I thought the better they do, almost better for me. Because they’re the same year as me. If they can do it, I can do it. So it brought a little bit more confidence,” Suh said. “Over the course of three years I didn’t really think about what they were doing. I knew what I had to do to get better and I’ve stayed consistent doing the same things ever since I was in college.

“I think everyone is kind of on their own path.”

Suh won the Korn Ferry Tour points title last year, and he’s been on the upward trend — he contended at the Honda Classic, had a top 10 at The Players Championship and was two out of the lead going into the weekend of the PGA Championship before faltering.

The should be another strong test.

Matsuyama won his first PGA Tour title at Muirfield Village in 2014 and being back gives him an emotional spark in a year that has been slowed by a neck injury. Cantlay has a game that fits anywhere, but he loves the Memorial, and it shows.

David Lipsky (69) joined Cantlay at 6-under 138.

The group four shots behind included Rory McIlroy (68) and Jon Rahm (70).

McIlroy was mostly satisfied with his finish. He played well on Thursday only to get a terrible break when his ball hung in thick grass on the slope of a bunker, leading to a triple bogey on the 18th hole that wiped out his good work and gave him a 72.

This time he finished strong for a 68 that puts him in the mix going into the weekend.

“I felt good about everything that I did yesterday,” he said. “I got one bad break on 18. So I really feel like I’m one shot out of leading this golf tournament. ... I can’t let that one unlucky break hide the fact that everything else was working pretty well.”

Rahm opened with back-to-back bogeys and stayed the course, waiting for birdie opportunities that eventually fell his way. He played bogey-free the rest of the way, picked up two birdies on par 5s and closed with a birdie on the 18th to get in range.

“You’ve got to assume very few players in the afternoon were going to play bogey-free, so you have to go to work and take advantage of the holes coming up,” Rahm said.

The cut was at 3-over 147, and Scottie Scheffler made it on the number.

Scheffler, back to No. 1 in the world ranking, has not finished worst than 12th all year. Keeping that streak alive will take some work, not to mention some putts. He ranks last in putting among the 66 players who made the cut.

 

 


Koepka deserves Ryder Cup spot: McIlroy

Koepka deserves Ryder Cup spot: McIlroy
Updated 01 June 2023

Koepka deserves Ryder Cup spot: McIlroy

Koepka deserves Ryder Cup spot: McIlroy
  • Those Masters and PGA results have left Koepka second in the overall US standings for the Ryder Cup team
  • Rahm said in Ohio this week that where players choose to play should not affect Ryder Cup eligibility

WASHINGTON: Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka has earned the right to a place on the United States’ Ryder Cup team following his PGA Championship triumph.

Koepka bagged his fifth major title at the PGA Championship earlier this month, just weeks after a second place finish at the Masters.

Those results have left Koepka second in the overall US standings for the Ryder Cup team, meaning he would normally be a shoo-in to make the American squad.

However, with the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit at loggerheads, it remains unclear whether LIV Golf players will be eligible for Ryder Cup spots.

McIlroy — one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf — believes however that Koepka should be on the US team that will face Europe at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome in September.

“I certainly think Brooks deserves to be on the United States team,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of this week’s PGA Tour Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

“I think with how he’s played, I mean, he’s second in the US standings, only played two counting events.

“I don’t know if there’s anyone else on the LIV roster that would make the team on merit and how they’re playing.

“But Brooks is definitely a guy that I think deserves to be on the US team.”

McIlroy, however, is adamant that former European Tour players who have signed for LIV — including Ryder Cup stalwarts such as Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia — should not be eligible for the tournament.

“I have different feelings about the European team and the other side and sort of how that has all transpired,” McIlroy said.

“I don’t think any of those guys should be a part of the European team.”

Europe were initially due to be captained by Sweden’s Henrik Stenson at this year’s Ryder Cup. Stenson was stripped of the captaincy however after joining LIV. He was subsequently replaced by Luke Donald.

Spanish star Garcia — Europe’s all-time leading Ryder Cup scorer with 28.5 points from 10 appearances — said recently that Donald had already told him he had “no chance” of making the European team as a captain’s pick.

That decision was greeted with dismay by Garcia’s fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm.

Rahm said in Ohio this week that where players choose to play should not affect Ryder Cup eligibility.

“It’s a little sad to me that politics have gotten in the way of such a beautiful event,” Rahm said on Tuesday.

“It’s the best Europeans against the best American, period. And whatever is going on, who is playing LIV and who is not playing LIV to me shouldn’t matter.”

Rahm added that Garcia’s exclusion from Ryder Cup contention was hard to stomach.

“I have a hard time to believe that the best player Europe has ever had, the most successful player Europe has had on the Ryder Cup isn’t fit to be on the team,” Rahm said.

“It’s unfortunate. I will miss him.”
 


Varner wins LIV Golf DC, Torque takes team title

Varner wins LIV Golf DC, Torque takes team title
Harold Varner III of RangeGoats GC wins his first LIV Golf individual title. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
Updated 29 May 2023

Varner wins LIV Golf DC, Torque takes team title

Varner wins LIV Golf DC, Torque takes team title
  • The 32-year-old shot a final-round 4-under 68 for a one stroke victory over Branden Grace.

POTOMAC FALLS: In his 11-year professional career, Harold Varner III has won individual trophies in Australia and Saudi Arabia. With his RangeGoats GC, he celebrated a LIV Golf League team trophy earlier this year in Singapore.

But the 32-year-old resident of North Carolina had never won on American soil until Sunday, when he captured the LIV Golf DC trophy with a final-round 4-under 68 for a one stroke victory over hard-charging Branden Grace.

In winning on the outskirts of the nation’s capital on Memorial Day weekend in front of the largest crowd to attend a LIV Golf tournament in the US, Varner becomes the second different RangeGoats player to win this season, joining good friend Talor Gooch, who won back-to-back titles in Adelaide and Singapore.

“Very special,” Varner said. “I’ve never won in America. It’s my favorite country.”

Varner did not get to enjoy a champagne celebration with his team, though. The Spanish-speaking Torque GC won for the second time this season, shooting a final-round counting score of 9 under to finish at 27 under, beating the South African Stinger GC by three shots, with the RangeGoats taking third.

“It’s good, but at the end of the day, I really wanted to celebrate with the RangeGoats,” Varner said. “That’s my team.”

Varner produced several clutch moments Sunday at Trump National Washington D.C., none bigger than his hole-out from the bunker for birdie at the par-4 11th to take the lead. His tee shot at the par-3 15th set up another birdie to give him a two-stroke lead.

But Grace, who lost in a playoff to Dustin Johnson two weeks ago in Tulsa, birdied two of his last three holes, including his final hole, the par-4 second, to tie Varner at 11 under. “I played flawless all day,” said Grace after his bogey-free 6-under 66, the only bogey-free round in the field this week. “Nice to make a putt like that when it matters.”

At the time, Varner was about to play his second shot at the par-5 18th. His 6-iron from 197 yards landed on the front edge of the green and settled 40 feet from the pin, setting up his two-putt birdie for the win.

“I knew exactly what I had to do, when I had to do it, how I have to do it,” Varner said. “I love that. That’s why you play, that moment.”

Varner’s victory prevented Torque from sweeping both trophies. Torque’s Mito Pereira led Varner by one stroke to start the day but wasn’t as sharp as the previous rounds en route to shooting 71 to finish third.

Even so, his lengthy eagle putt on the par-5 13th was a key moment in Torque’s tight battle with Stinger GC, which was looking for its second consecutive team win after claiming the title in Tulsa.

“My irons weren’t very good today,” Pereira said. “Happy to finish third and obviously wanted to win. But we won as a team, so that’s pretty sick, too.”

David Puig, the 21-year-old from Spain and LIV Golf’s youngest player this season, provided Torque with its best counting score, a 6-under 66 that tied Grace for the low round of the day. Sebastián Muñoz added a 70 to tie for fourth on the individual leaderboard.

The win moves Torque to third in the season-long team standings behind last year’s champions, 4Aces GC, and Stinger GC. But Torque Captain Joaquin Niemann likes how his team is performing going into the second half of the 14-event season.

“We won already two times and obviously the more important win is the last one of the end of the year,” Niemann said, pointing to the Team Championship. “I think this is good to prove to all the other teams that we are the team to beat.”

As for Varner, his plans to celebrate his first win in the U.S. include a round of golf on the Monday holiday with his friends at a municipal course.

“I love playing golf,” he said. “That’s my favorite thing. I’m going to play tomorrow. It’s going to be awesome.”

Here are the standings and counting scores for Sunday’s final round of the team competition at LIV Golf DC. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title. 

1. TORQUE GC (-27): David Puig 66, Sebastián Muñoz 70, Mito Pereira 71 (Rd. 3 score: -9)

2. STINGER GC (-24): Branden Grace 66, Charl Schwartzel 70, Louis Oosthuizen 71 (Rd. 3 score: -9)

3. RANGEGOATS GC (-19): Harold Varner III 68, Talor Gooch 71, Wade Ormsby* 73 (Rd. 3 score: -4) *Reserve

4. CRUSHERS GC (-15): Bryson DeChambeau 70, Charles Howell III 70, Anirban Lahiri 71 (Rd. 3 score: -5)

5. MAJESTICKS GC (-14): Henrik Stenson 71, Laurie Canter 71, Lee Westwood 72 (Rd. 3 score: 27)

6. 4ACES GC (-14): Pat Perez 71, Peter Uihlein 71, Dustin Johnson 73 (Rd. 3 score: -1)

7. CLEEKS GC (-10): Graeme McDowell 71, Martin Kaymer 71, Bernd Wiesberger 71 (Rd. 3 score: -3)

8. IRON HEADS GC (-9): Scott Vincent 69, Danny Lee 72, Kevin Na 72 (Rd. 3 score: -3)

9. FIREBALLS GC (-8): Carlos Ortiz 70, Abraham Ancer 74, Sergio Garcia 74 (Rd. 3 score: +2)

10. HYFLYERS GC (-8): Cameron Tringale 70, Brendan Steele 71, Phil Mickelson 76 (Rd. 3 score: +1)

11. RIPPER GC (-7): Matt Jones 69, Marc Leishman 72 , Cameron Smith 72 (Rd. 3 score: -3)

12. SMASH GC (+2): Brooks Koepka 70, *Kieran Vincent 72, Chase Koepka 72 (Rd. 3 score: -2) *Reserve