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Tag: Jordan Spieth

  • Justin Rose rallies late and beats Spaun in Memphis playoff

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Justin Rose made up a three-shot deficit over the last five holes against hard-luck Tommy Fleetwood, and then made two birdies in a playoff against U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday.

    Rose delivered another sterling performance, closing with a 3-under 67 for his 24th victory worldwide that puts him back into the top 10 in the world at age 45 and secures his spot in another Ryder Cup.

    He birdied four straight holes, and narrowly missed a 13-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at the TPC Southwind for a win in regulation. Rose wound up making six birdies over the last eight holes he played, the last one a 10-foot putt on the 18th on the third playoff hole.

    “An amazing last 90 minutes,” Rose said. “I played unbelievable golf down the stretch. When I bring my best, I know I’m good enough to play and to compete, and to now win against the best players in the world. Very gratifying day for me.”

    Spaun showed plenty of moxie on his own. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to pull into a share of the lead and closed with a 65. He also made a 30-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole with Rose in tight.

    “I hung in there the best I could, and he beat me to the hole first. Just wasn’t meant to be,” said Spaun, who locked up a spot in his first Ryder Cup.

    Lost in his remarkable rally was another setback for Fleetwood, who has become a sympathetic figure in golf for close calls and his graciousness in defeat. This looked to be his time to add a PGA Tour title to his wins around the world, especially when his 35-foot birdie on the 12th was the first of three birdies in a four-hole stretch that gave him a two-shot lead with three to play.

    But he hit pitch through the green on the par-5 16th and had to scramble for par. He was between clubs on the 17th, hit a poor shot and a worse par attempt from 7 feet for bogey. Needing birdie on the 18th to have a chance, he drove into a bunker.

    Fleetwood shot 69 and finished one shot out of the playoff along with Scottie Scheffler, who grazed the edge of so many putts on the back nine and had to settle a 67.

    “There’s a lot of positives to take, as much as I won’t feel like that right now. I’m just going to look at what I feel like I could have done and how close it was,” Fleetwood said.

    “All these experiences and these close calls, like I say, there’s no point in allowing them to have a negative effect on what happens next. What would be the point?” he said. “It was a great week. I did a ton of good stuff, and as disappointed as I am, I have to try to find the strength to make it all a positive experience and hopefully next time go again.”

    Scheffler has not finished worse than eighth place in his last 12 tournaments dating to March. He played the final round without his regular caddie, Ted Scott, who had an emergency family situation back home in Louisiana.

    Rose wasn’t the only player leaving the TPC Southwind with a big smile. Bud Cauley was on the bubble for finishing in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup when he holed a bunker shot for birdie on the 17th hole and locked up his spot for the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs next week outside Baltimore.

    Rickie Fowler, who missed the postseason last year, shot 69 to tie for sixth and advance to the BMW Championship. Others who moved into the top 50 were Kurt Kitayama, Jhonattan Vegas and J.T. Poston.

    The top 50 are assured of being in all the $20 million signature events next year.

    There was plenty of movement around the bubble. Jordan Spieth never got on track this week, finished with a shot in the water on the 18th and shot 68 to tie for 38th to finish 54th. Chris Kirk was inside the top 50 until he hit into the water on the 15th for bogey and failed to birdie the par-5 16th. A closing birdie left him at No. 51.

    For all that was at stake, the best drama was at the top, particularly with Rose. He played in the final group with Fleetwood was three shots behind when Rose hit 6-iron to just inside 15 feet for birdie at the par-3 14th. He followed with two more short birdies, and then poured in a 15-footer on the 17th for his fourth in a row.

    “This is going to be a fun one for us to celebrate,” Rose said.

    ___

    AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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  • British Open Tee Times

    British Open Tee Times

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    Troon, Scotland

    Royal Troon Golf Club

    (a-amateur)

    Friday

    All times GMT

    0535 Ewen Ferguson, Scotland; Marcel Siem, Germany.

    0546 C.T. Pan, Taiwan; Yuto Katsuragawa, Japan.

    0557 Rikuya Hoshino, Japan; Angel Hidalgo, Spain; Richard Mansell, England.

    0608 Corey Conners, Canada; Ryan Fox, New Zealand; Jorge Campillo, Spain.

    0619 Ernie Els, South Africa; Gary Woodland, United States; a-Altin van der Merwe, South Africa.

    0630 Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Rasmus Hojgaard, Denmark; a-Jacob Skov Olesen, Denmark.

    0641 Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Billy Horschel, United States; Victor Perez, France.

    0652 Sepp Straka, Austria; Brendon Todd, United States; Jordan Smith, England.

    0703 Denny McCarthy, United States; Taylor Moore, United States; Adrian Meronk, Poland.

    0714 Jason Day, Australia; Byeong Hun An, South Korea; Rickie Fowler, United States.

    0725 Alex Cejka, Germany Eric Cole, United States; Kurt Kitayama, United States.

    0736 Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland; J.T. Poston, United States; Dean Burmester, South Africa.

    0747 Phil Mickelson, United States; Joost Luiten, Netherlands; Dustin Johnson, United States.

    0803 Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Davis Thompson, United States; Matthew Jordan, England.

    0814 Wyndham Clark, United States; Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Brooks Koepka, United States.

    0825 Tiger Woods, United States; Xander Schauffele, United States; Patrick Cantlay, United States.

    0836 Collin Morikawa, United States; Sam Burns, United States; Si Woo Kim, South Korea.

    0847 Shane Lowry, Ireland; Cameron Smith, Australia; Matt Fitzpatrick, England.

    0858 Jordan Spieth, United States; Scottie Scheffler, United States; Cameron Young, United States

    0909 Akshay Bhatia, United States; Tom Hoge, United States; Sami Valimaki, Finland.

    0920 Emiliano Grillo, Argentina; Ben Griffin, United States; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada.

    0931 Yannik Paul, Germany; Joe Dean, England; Andy Ogletree, United States.

    0942 Ryan van Velzen, South Africa; Charlie Lindh, Sweden; a-Luis Masaveu, Spain.

    0953 Kazuma Kobori, New Zealand; a-Jaime Montojo Fernandez, Spain; a-Liam Nolan, Ireland.

    1004 Daniel Brown, England; Denwit David Boriboonsub, Thailand, a-Matthew Dodd-Berry, England.

    1015 Jeunghun Wang, South Korea; Aguri Iwasaki, Japan; Sam Horsfield, England.

    1036 Justin Leonard, United States; Todd Hamilton, United States; Jack McDonald, Scotland.

    1047 Alex Noren, Sweden; Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland; a-Calum Scott, Scotland.

    1058 Jesper Svensson, Sweden; Vincent Norrman, Sweden; Michael Hendry, New Zealand.

    1109 Younghan Song, South Korea; Daniel Hillier, New Zealand; Ryosuke Kinoshita, Japan.

    1120 Min Woo Lee, Australia; Ryo Hisatsune, Japan; Abraham Ancer, Mexico.

    1131 Nicolai Hojgaard, Denmark; Adam Scott, Australia; Keita Nakajima, Japan.

    1142 Francesco Molinari, Italy; Justin Rose, England; a-Jasper Stubbs, Australia.

    1153 Justin Thomas, United States; Sungjae Im, South Korea; Matthew Southgate, England.

    1204 Nick Taylor, Canada; Matt Wallace, England; Laurie Canter, England.

    1215 Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden; Matteo Manassero, Italy; Shubhankar Sharma, India.

    1226 Zach Johnson, United States; Austin Eckroat, United States; Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark.

    1237 John Daly, United States; a-Santiago De La Fuente, Mexico; Aaron Rai, England.

    1248 Stewart Cink, United States; Chris Kirk, United States; a-Dominic Clemons, England.

    1304 Stephan Jaeger, Germany; Adam Schenk, United States; Joaquin Niemann, Chile.

    1315 Adam Hadwin, Canada; Lucas Glover, United States; Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Africa.

    1326 Tony Finau, United States; Russell Henley, United States; Matthieu Pavon, France.

    1337 Jon Rahm, Spain; Tommy Fleetwood, England; Robert MacIntyre, Scotland.

    1348 Ludvig Aberg, Sweden; Bryson DeChambeau, United States; Tom Kim, South Korea.

    1359 Brian Harman, United States; Viktor Hovland, Norway; Sahith Theegala, United States.

    1410 Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Max Homa, United States; Tyrrell Hatton, England.

    1421 Keegan Bradley, United States; Will Zalatoris, United States; a-Gordon Sargent, United States.

    1432 Harris English, United States; Maverick McNealy, United States; Alexander Bjork, Sweden.

    1443 Guido Migliozzi, Italy; Sean Crocker, United States; a-Tommy Morrison, United States.

    1454 David Puig, Spain; John Catlin, United States; Guntaek Koh, South Korea.

    1505 Thriston Lawrence, South Africa; Dan Bradbury, England; Elvis Smylie, Australia.

    1516 Nacho Elvira, Spain; Minkyu Kim, South Korea; Darren Fichardt, South Africa.

    1527 Mason Andersen, United States; Masahiro Kawamura, Japan; Sam Hutsby, England.

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  • Column: PGA Tour year in review based on shots from 14 clubs

    Column: PGA Tour year in review based on shots from 14 clubs

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    One swing can go a long way, whether the shot ends up in the water, on the green or in the hole.

    One swing cost Mito Pereira his first major championship. It validated the rise of Tom Kim. And for Jordan Spieth, it had observers on the edge of their seats as he stood on the edge of a cliff.

    What follows is a year in review on the PGA Tour based on significant shots from all 14 clubs in the bag.

    DRIVER: Mito Pereira came to the 18th hole at Southern Hills with a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship, a chance for the Chilean to win his first major and give South America the career Grand Slam. A quick swing sent his drive into the creek, the start of a meltdown that led to double bogey. Justin Thomas went on to beat Will Zalatoris in a playoff.

    3-WOOD: Justin Thomas drove the par-4 17th with a 3-wood in a playoff for birdie and the lead on his way to winning the PGA Championship. The best 3-wood goes to Hideki Matsuyama at the Sony Open, a shot he never saw because the sun was in his eyes. In a sudden-death playoff, he had 277 and laced it to 3 feet for eagle. That was the highlight for the reigning Masters champion, who dealt with injuries the rest of the year.

    2-IRON: Tom Kim already captured attention by winning the Wyndham Championship. The 20-year-old really introduced himself in a Saturday afternoon fourballs match at the Presidents Cup. The match was all square. The opponents were Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The audience included a trio of U.S. major champions who had finished their matches. He drilled his 2-iron to 10 feet and slammed his cap to the ground when he made the winning putt.

    3-IRON: Scottie Scheffler had a four-shot lead in the Masters and reason to be nervous after his tee shot on the 18th hole Saturday headed for the pines. Spotters found the ball. He took a penalty drop. And then with trouble looming, he ripped a 3-iron from 237 yards away off pine straw. The ball landed on the green and rolled just over the back, setting up two putts and a bogey that felt much better.

    4-IRON: Rory McIlroy was off to a sluggish start in the DP World Tour Championship and needing to make a move. He birdied the 16th and 17th. And on the par-5 18th, from 237 yards away, he hit 4-iron to 3 feet for eagle and a 68. That sparked him to a 65-68 weekend to finish fourth and capture the DP World Tour Points and the FedEx Cup in the same season.

    5-IRON: Matt Fitzpatrick was tied for the lead with Will Zalatoris when he pushed his drive slightly to the right on matted rough on the 15th hole at The Country Club. From 225 yards away, Fitzpatrick hit 5-iron to 15 feet for a birdie that gave him the lead for good on his way to winning the U.S. Open.

    6-IRON: As if going for that first PGA Tour victory wasn’t hard enough, Sepp Straka faced heavy rain on the par-5 18th hole of the Honda Classic. He was tied for the lead when he found the fairway and then hit 6-iron to the heart of the green, setting up a two-putt victory for the win.

    7-IRON: Jordan Spieth’s tee shot on the eighth hole of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was inches past the red hazard line and about a foot from going over a 60-foot cliff. His caddie tried three times to talk him into taking a penalty drop. Spieth chose to play 7-iron for what he called the most nerve-wracking shot of his life. It was part of a 63. And it was an example of how there’s rarely a dull moment with this guy.

    8-IRON: Patrick Cantlay had a one-shot lead on the final hole of the BMW Championship when he drove into a bunker. The ball was above his feet, 158 yards to a pin on a steeply pitched green. He took 8-iron and tried to slice it as hard as he could. It found the green, he two-putted for par and became the first back-to-back winner of the BMW in the FedEx Cup era.

    9-IRON: The toughest test in golf was every bit of that for Matt Fitzpatrick on the final hole of the U.S. Open. He was in a bunker, 156 yards away, a steep lip in his line. Fitzpatrick hit what he calls a “squeezy fade” with a 9-iron to 18 feet that secured his first major.

    PITCHING WEDGE: Bubba Watson was one shot inside the cut line at the Masters on Friday when he put his drive in the trees right of the fairway, seemingly no way out. Bubba found a way, hitting a pitching wedge through a tiny gap and onto the green 3 feet away for birdie. Bubba Golf.

    GAP WEDGE: Jon Rahm had not made bogey all weekend until his first one on the 12th hole Sunday of the Spanish Open, cutting his lead to two shots. He responded with a gap wedge to 6 feet for birdie that sent him on his way. It was one of three wins this year for Rahm, including national Opens in Mexico and Spain.

    LOB WEDGE: Max Homa was one shot behind and in a swale left of the 18th green at the Fortinet Championship. Danny Willett was 4 feet away for birdie with a one-shot lead. Homa used lob wedge to hole out for birdie, and he won when Willett three-putted in the most stunning finish of the year. For Homa, it was another chapter in a year when his game exceeded his social media skills.

    PUTTER: Cameron Smith can never be counted out when the putter is in his hand, even when he’s not on the green. He was 40 yards away from the flag on the 17th hole at St. Andrews with a one-shot lead in the British Open. The Road Hole bunker was in the way. He skillfully putted with enough pace around the bunker to 10 feet, made the par and finished with a birdie to win the claret jug.

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    AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas

    Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas

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    Tiger Woods made it official Wednesday by announcing he would return to competition as part of the 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

    Woods is the tournament host of the unofficial event on Dec. 1-4 at Albany Golf Club, where the tournament has been played since 2015.

    It will be the first time Woods has played the Hero World Challenge, which benefits his foundation, since 2019.

    Woods, who announced his decision on Twitter, has not played competitively since he missed the cut in the British Open at St. Andrews in July.

    That was only the third tournament he played in 2022, all of them majors. He made the cut at the Masters and PGA Championship, finishing 47th at Augusta National and withdrawing after three rounds at Southern Hills.

    The Hero World Challenge is the start of a busy month for Woods, who also has agreed to play in a made-for-TV exhibition on Dec. 10 with Rory McIlroy as his partner in a 12-hole match against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

    Woods also is expected to play in the PNC Championship a week later with his son, Charlie. They were runners-up a year ago in Orlando, Florida.

    The 20-man field in the Bahamas receives world ranking points, with the caveat that sponsor exemptions must be among the top 50 in the world. There is an exception for the tournament host — Woods is at No. 1,245.

    Woods said Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Kisner would be the other exemptions, joining an already stacked field that has 17 of the top 20 players in the world. The only players from the top 20 not playing are McIlroy, Cameron Smith and Patrick Cantlay. Smith, the British Open champion, is ineligible because of his PGA Tour suspension for joining LIV Golf.

    Also, tournament officials announced that Will Zalatoris has not fully recovered from a back injury that kept him out of the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup. Zalatoris was replaced by former British Open champion Shane Lowry.

    ———

    AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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