Scottie Scheffler closes in on $25 million FedEx Cup prize with late burst of birdies

Scottie Scheffler closes in on $25 million FedEx Cup prize with late burst of birdies
Scottie Scheffler makes his putt on the 18th green during the third round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP)
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Updated 01 September 2024
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Scottie Scheffler closes in on $25 million FedEx Cup prize with late burst of birdies

Scottie Scheffler closes in on $25 million FedEx Cup prize with late burst of birdies
  • Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping off this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and its $25 million prize
  • Sahith Theegala might have been two shots closer except for calling a two-shot penalty on himself on the third hole for lightly touching the sand with his club out of a bunker

ATLANTA: The most PGA Tour victories in 15 years. A Masters green jacket and an Olympic gold medal. And now Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping off this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and its $25 million prize.

Scheffler had four birdies over his last five holes Saturday for a 5-under 66 to extend his lead to five shots over Collin Morikawa in the Tour Championship at East Lake.

He also knows the work is not done.

Two years ago, Scheffler finished the third round of a rain-delayed Tour Championship on Sunday morning by building a six-shot lead. He fell apart that afternoon with a 73, and watched Rory McIlroy race past him to capture the PGA Tour’s big prize.

The task for Scheffler is simple.

“Keep doing what I’ve been doing, staying in the moment, staying patient out there,” Scheffler said. I’ve bogeyed the first hole two of the last three days, and both times when I bogeyed the first hole I didn’t make any bogeys after that. So that’s kind of good momentum for me.”

It was even better moment at the end, with Morikawa (67) staying on his heels. Morikawa birdied three of his last four holes, but still ended up falling one more shot behind than the four-shot deficit he faced at the start of the third round.

“Not exactly the moving day that I needed, but I knew this entire week I was going to need something special to come out on top and I’m going to need something very special,” Morikawa said. “But I believe in myself, and hopefully that comes out tomorrow.”

Scheffler, who started at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead — six shots ahead of Morikawa, the No. 7 seed — was at 26-under par.

No one else was closer than nine shots.

Sahith Theegala might have been two shots closer except for calling a two-shot penalty on himself on the third hole for lightly touching the sand with his club out of a bunker. Video was not entirely clear, but Theegala informed officials and his par turned into a double bogey.

“Pretty sure I breached the rules, so I’m paying the price for it, and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “I’m not 100 percent sure. But I’d say I’m 98, 99 percent sure that some sand was moved.”

He responded with seven birdies on the back nine and shot 66, leaving him nine shots behind.

Morikawa got within two shots of the lead when he holed a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the par-5 sixth hole. But that was as close as he got.

On the next hole, Scheffler holed a 15-foot birdie putt while Morikawa came up short of the green, lagged a putt to just outside 3 feet and missed it, a two-shot swing that restored Scheffler’s lead to four.

They also played in the final group at the Masters, where Scheffler pulled away to win by four. Morikawa knows by now what to expect.

“Five shots is a lot, but two-shot swings happen. I think I’ve seen a couple over the past few days,” Morikawa said. “Look, I’ve just got to play my game. I’ve got to go low. I know that. I’ve got 18 holes left to the season. I keep talking about that, but I’m going to put everything I have into these next 24 hours.”

His raw score was 17-under 196, one shot better than Scheffler.

Scheffler didn’t hit as many fairways and greens as he did the opening two rounds, but he was ranked No. 2 in the key putting statistic on Saturday. And he has kept his distance over every challenger so far this week.

“I feel like I’ve done a lot of stuff well and played solid, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of trying to finish off the tournament tomorrow,” he said.

British Open and PGA champion Xander Schauffele never got on track. Starting the day five shots behind, he had two bogeys in the opening four holes and failed to birdie the three par 5s in his round of 71. He was 10 shots behind.

He has never hit more than seven fairways each of the three rounds, and it has cost him at a time when he needed to go low to stay in the game.

“I was just not playing well enough to shoot consecutive 7-under pars,” Schauffele said. “You’ve got to be hitting at least 12 fairways to give yourself some serious looks and then obviously do a lot of good after that, but it starts with your ball on the short stuff.”

For everyone else, it’s a race for cash.

The FedEx Cup winner gets $25 million, with second place worth $12.5 million and third place paying $7.5 million.
 


Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change

Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change
Updated 24 September 2024
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Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change

Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change
  • The Presidents Cup starts at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another US romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007
  • The Americans have won nine in a row since the 2003 tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia

MONTREAL: Golf has never seen a rivalry as lopsided as the Presidents Cup, so heavily weighted toward the Americans it can barely be considered a rivalry.

Adam Scott needs no reminder.

He was a 23-year-old making his Presidents Cup debut in 2003, right in the middle of the action in South Africa, urging for a Tiger Woods-Ernie Els playoff to continue in the dark if it meant the International team not getting a share of the trophy. It ended in a tie. They shared the gold trophy.

But for Scott and the Internationals, it’s been all downhill — more like plunging off a cliff — ever since then.

The Americans have won nine in a row since that tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.

What makes Scott think this will be any different?

“I think our team is deeper than we’ve seen for a while, as far as the world ranking goes — not that it’s the be all and end all, but it’s something,” Scott said. “I feel like we’re putting together a formidable side, and 18-hole match play and some momentum, we can get right in it.”

He has said that before. He just hasn’t done that before.

The Presidents Cup starts Thursday at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another US romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007. The only consolation for Canada that year was Mike Weir taking down Woods, even though the outcome had been decided.

Weir is now the International captain and hopeful Canada has more to cheer.

That starts with being in front of a home crowd.

“We know what they can do,” Xander Schauffele said Monday as both teams played nine holes at Royal Montreal in cool weather and occasional rain. “And they’re on home soil.”

That certainly doesn’t hurt the cause, as the last two times illustrated. The International team, led by Els at Royal Melbourne in 2019, had the Americans on the ropes and was leading 10-8 going into the last day, only for the Americans to rally in singles and win.

Before that was South Korea in 2015. The Internationals thought they had it won until Chris Kirk made a 15-foot putt and Anirban Lahiri missed from 4 feet. With a chance for at least a tie, Sangmoon Bae in the final match duffed a chip on the final hole.

Close, but no trophy. That’s been the case since 1998.

In America, it’s been no contest. The US built an 8-2 lead after two sessions the last time, at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in 2022, against an International team that lost two key players, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.

And then there was Liberty National in 2017, such a shellacking that the Americans had a chance to win the cup before even getting to the 12 singles matches on the final day.

Schauffele, playing in his third Presidents Cup, believes the home crowd matters, especially if US players fall behind early.

“If you start out shaky, the fans can make a big difference. You can be made to feel like you’re playing worse than you really are,” Schauffele said.

Most of the Americans haven’t played since the Tour Championship three weeks ago — Max Homa missed the cut at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, while Presidents Cup rookie Sahith Theegala tied for seventh.

But they arrived on the weekend, a few days earlier than normal, to get acquainted with Royal Montreal. The International team spend two days in Montreal after the Tour Championship.

“I know they’re putting a lot into it to kind of make it feel like as much of a home game as possible for us, and we’re counting on the Canadian fans for that,” Scott said. “But we’re all going to have to do our job and win some points to get them on our side.”

As for the little things, Weir points to a big starting point in 2019 when Els had a logo — it’s more like a shield — as a symbol of an International side that is starting to feel more like a team. This team has players from six countries. Three of them are Canadian, all of whom Weir chose with his captain’s picks.

“You can just see it. You feel it. The guys are more comfortable with one another,” Weir said. “And I think that’s a big factor for our team.”

Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day are the only players who have competed in at least three Presidents Cups. For the rest of the players, the losing streak is only what they hear.

“We do know the past, and we want to change that,” Weir said. “And we’re doing all the little things behind the scenes to help to change that.”


Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
Updated 23 September 2024
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Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
  • Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024

OS ANGELES, United States: Lydia Ko continued her late-season surge on Sunday, firing a sensational nine-under par 63 to win the US LPGA Queen City Championship by five strokes on the heels of her Olympic and British Open triumphs.
New Zealand’s Ko started the day two shots behind Thailand’s Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul, but she seized control with an eagle at the 11th and powered to victory with a 23-under par total of 265.
She had seven birdies and no bogeys at TPC River’s Bend near Cincinnati, Ohio, where Jeeno started strong with a birdie and an eagle on the front nine but just couldn’t keep pace coming in.
“It has been pretty surreal,” Ko said of the last two months, which saw her complete her collection of Olympic medals — and secure her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame — with her Olympic triumph in Paris.
She followed that with her first major title in eight years at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“After having three weeks off (I was) not entirely sure what it was going to be like,” she said. “To have a round like this to cap off a win is pretty special.”
Ko drained a 15-foot birdie putt at the 10th to pull level with Jeeno, and made another 15-footer for eagle at the 11th to take a two-shot lead as the Thai player was unable to capitalize on the par-five.
Jeeno pulled back a stroke with a long birdie at the par-three 12th, but there was another two-shot swing at the 13th, where Ko’s superb second shot left her an eight-footer for birdie as Jeeno missed the green on the way to a bogey.
Ko got up and down for birdie at the 15th and punctuated the win with a birdie at the par-five 18th.
Jeeno carded a two-under par 70, but her pursuit of a fourth LPGA title — her first in an individual stroke play event since 2022 — was further doomed by bogeys at the 15th and 17th.
Her 18-under par total of 270 gave her solo second ahead of South Korean Ryu Hae-ran, who carded a five-under 67 for 271.
Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024. She also won the Tournament of Champions to start the year.
Her 22 titles are seven more than any other active LPGA player and the 27-year-old said her resurgent season has her reconsidering her career goals.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to do the career Grand Slam, but I just thought that would be so out there,” said Ko, who needs the US Open and Women’s PGA Championship to complete her collection of major titles.
“But, you know, I feel like I’ve already been part of this fairytale, so why not?”


South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead

South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead
Updated 20 September 2024
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South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead

South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead
  • Buhai said her form had been solid, and after two weeks off she was ready to attack the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend course
  • With her two-putt birdie at 18 she had a one-stroke lead over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and China’s Liu Yan

LOS ANGELES: Ashleigh Buhai carded eight birdies in a 7-under par 65 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Queen City Championship as she vies to finish strong in an injury-disrupted year.

“There has been a few things happened to me this year — back injuries, broken toe,” said the South African, who played the Paris Olympics with a piece of one shoe cut away because of her toe injury.

But Buhai, whose two LPGA victories include a major title at the 2022 Women’s British Open, said her form had been solid, and after two weeks off she was ready to attack the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend course, which is hosting the tournament for the first time.

“I think I was smart with when I could attack,” said Buhai, who had four birdies on the front nine and four on the back.

With her two-putt birdie at 18 she had a one-stroke lead over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and China’s Liu Yan.

Eight players shared fourth on 67, a group that included world No. 1 Nelly Korda and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, the Paris Olympics champion.

“There were a few pins out there where you had to still try to be aggressive, and the greens got a little firm and ran through, but I then made some good up and downs to keep me in it,” Buhai said.

“I hit it great, putted well — that tends to add up to what it did.”

Liu, who has missed the cut in her last seven starts and is searching for a first top-10 of the year, started on the 10th and had two eagles — at the 18th and at the eighth — in her 66.

“Today my driver was very good,” said Liu, who played her last two holes in 3-under.


Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom

Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom
Updated 19 September 2024
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Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom

Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom
  • Move part of partnership deal with Golf Saudi
  • Company will also sponsor Kingdom’s professional golfers

RIYADH: Topgolf Callaway Brands is set to open three driving range entertainment venues in the Kingdom under a partnership deal with Golf Saudi.
The facilities will open in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province, with the possibility of more to follow in the future, according to a press statement.
Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza said: “Our partnership marks a pivotal moment for golf in Saudi Arabia. Our golf infrastructure has been rapidly evolving and this multi-brand deal with Topgolf Callaway Brands will accelerate the game we love across the whole ecosystem.
“We are confident that we’ve found the right long-term partner to leverage the fast developing sports and golf canvas in Saudi Arabia and to co-innovate to help shape the future of golf in Saudi and beyond.
“This partnership ladders back to Golf Saudi’s role in achieving the goals of Vision 2030,” Alireza said.
“We are driven by improving the lives and opportunities of all Saudis and expats living in the country. Opening Topgolf will not only get thousands of people into playing golf and enjoying the health and wellness benefits that come with that, but it will also bring hundreds of new jobs to young Saudis, which is another part of our ambitions of building a far-reaching and sustainable golf ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.”
As well as the entertainment venues, under the deal Golf Saudi will become the official distributor of Topgolf Callaway Brands equipment and clothing in the Kingdom.
Callaway Golf will also sponsor the country’s professional golfers and provide clothing for the men’s, women’s and junior national teams.


Rahm wins LIV Golf Chicago and 2024 individual crown

Rahm wins LIV Golf Chicago and 2024 individual crown
Updated 16 September 2024
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Rahm wins LIV Golf Chicago and 2024 individual crown

Rahm wins LIV Golf Chicago and 2024 individual crown
  • It was his second victory in the past three events, sandwiched around a runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka in a playoff at LIV Golf Greenbrier in August
  • In addition to his $18 million champion’s bonus, Rahm bagged $4 million for the tournament win

LOS ANGELES: Spain’s Jon Rahm fired four birdies — including a 12-footer at the 17th — to win LIV Golf Chicago on Sunday and clinch the Saudi-backed circuit’s individual season title worth $18 million.
The two-time major winner from Spain, who made the jump to the breakaway league last December, captured his second victory in the past three events, sandwiched around a runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka in a playoff at LIV Golf Greenbrier in August.
Rahm, who hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in 11 events, arrived at Bolingbrook Golf Course near Chicago this week with Joaquin Niemann — a two-time winner this season — his only rival for the season title.
After a six-under-par second round on Saturday, Rahm took a one-shot lead over compatriot Sergio Garcia into the final round, with Niemann three adrift and needing to finish in front of Rahm to bag the individual champion’s bonus.
Rahm had birdies at the third, sixth and 10th holes, and after letting a couple of birdie chances go begging, he sealed it with his birdie at 17, carding a four-under final round for a 54-hole total of 11-under par.
“I woke up really nervous today,” Rahm said. “I wanted to do a really good show and get it over the line. Just really happy I played as good as I did.
“To go bogey-free on the weekend, one bogey all tournament, it’s quite spectacular,” he said. “I’m very proud of the putt on 17, which made 18 a lot, a lot, easier.”
In addition to his $18 million champion’s bonus he bagged $4 million for the tournament win.
He finished three shots better than Niemann, whose four-under final gave him an eight-under total that left him tied for second with Garcia.
The LIV season concludes next week with the team championship in Dallas.
After that, Rahm has his sights set on playing a trio of DP World Tour events to maintain his Ryder Cup eligibility.
He said Wednesday he was unwilling to pay the fines levied by the DP World Tour on golfers who fail to obtain releases to play in LIV events that conflict with tour tournaments.
Rahm has reportedly appealed the fines, and as that process plays out would be eligible to tee up at the Spanish Open later this month.