Day: August 7, 2017

Time to vote for the MetLife MatchUp winnerTime to vote for the MetLife MatchUp winner

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017| 8:00

Get ready to cast your vote for one of the final 10 golfers in the MetLife MatchUp, which will determine which player best navigated the challenges of the PGA TOUR to produce an unforgettable shot. Go to PGATOUR.COM/MetLife, Aug. 7-16, to pick your favorite. MetLife and the PGA TOUR launched the MetLife MatchUp earlier this season to recognize the pros who best navigated the TOUR’s most demanding holes and challenging situations. Already this season, at 10 select events broadcast by CBS, two players/shots were selected to go head-to-head in the weekly MetLife MatchUp, where fans cast votes for the shot they liked best. The finalists, the best of the best, will now be pitted against each other for you to once again cast your vote — this time to determine the MetLife MatchUp season winner. The winner will be announced on CBS during the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST on Aug. 27. The 10 finalists are: Luke Donald (RBC Heritage): In the final round, the Englishman holed out from the greenside bunker from 75 feet to birdie the par-4 11th hole. Cameron Smith (Valero Texas Open): In the third round, Smith missed the fairway at the par-5 8th hole, then hit his second shot from the left rough back into the fairway. After landing his third in the bunker, he saved par with a solid bunker shot. Phil Mickelson (Wells Fargo Championship): In the third round, Mickelson’s third shot landed in the bunker on the par-5 18th hole. He then used his considerable short-game skills to blast out to within 6 feet, then drained the putt for par. Jason Day (AT&T Byron Nelson): In the opening round, Day’s tee shot at the par-4 11th hole came to rest on the cart path. Electing to hit from the concrete, Day knocked his approach to 12 feet, then sank his birdie putt. Kevin Kisner (DEAN & DELUCA Invitational): In the third round, Kisner punched out from the trees into the fairway on the par-5 first hole, hit his third shot into the rough, then chipped in from 33 feet for birdie. Daniel Berger (FedEx St. Jude Classic): In the final round, Berger left his 75-foot chip short of the green on the par-4 first hole before chipping in from 25 feet to save an unlikely par en route to the win. Martin Laird (Quicken Loans National): In the final round, Laird hit his tee shot into some deep grass at the par-4 14th hole, requiring him to scramble from a difficult position. Undaunted, he chipped in from 39 yards for birdie. Bubba Watson (The Greenbrier Classic): In the first round, Watson hit his tee shot in the woods on the par-4 13th hole, requiring a punch shot back into the fairway. He bent his third onto the green and finished it off with a 41-foot putt for par. Patrick Rodgers (John Deere Classic): In the second round, Rodgers hit his 190-yard tee shot into the greenside rough on the par-3 third hole but did more than just save par — he scrambled to hole his 49-foot birdie chip. Kevin Chappell (RBC Canadian Open): In the final round, Chappell hit an incredible approach shot from a difficult position to give himself an 11-foot look at birdie on the par-4 10th hole.

Click here to read the full article…

Read MoreRead More

Chris Stroud surges, wins first title at Barracuda ChampionshipChris Stroud surges, wins first title at Barracuda Championship

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017| 4:14

RENO, Nev. — News and notes from Sunday’s fourth round of the Barracuda Championship, where Chris Stroud captured his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday with a win in a two-hole playoff over Richy Werenski. STROUD SURGES FOR FIRST WIN Chris Stroud exploded for 20 points in the final round of the Barracuda Championship and walked away with his first victory on the PGA TOUR. Stroud was at No. 144 in the FedExCup standings going into the Barracuda. He picked up 300 points with his win Sunday and jumped all the way to No. 76 in the standings. Stroud went back to an old club he had used before, a counter-balanced, long putter. “It just really helps me release the putter,â€� he said. “And when it does that, it keeps me very still. And the trouble I have with putting, with a shorter putter, is I lean the shaft a little bit. So I end up pushing a lot of putts. “So it’s nice to have, but at the end of the day, I played beautifully. I had some really nice little bounces that I hadn’t been getting in the last few weeks and capitalized on them, made some good birdies.â€� Stroud, 35, from Houston, Texas, said he loves the Modified Stableford format, which rewards risk-taking and aggressive play. It was his first win in 290 PGA TOUR events. Stroud turned pro in 2004. He played on mini-tours until earning his PGA TOUR card at the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Qualifying schools.  His best performance in a PGA TOUR event during these early years was a tie for fifth at the 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In 2010, Stroud finished T10 at THE PLAYERS Championship, and he lost in a sudden-death playoff to Ken Duke on the second extra hole of the 2013 Travelers Championship. Stroud had never made the cut in Reno in three previous trips (2007, 2009 and 2016). Despite his history at Montreux, Stroud credited his caddie for helping him stay so calm on Sunday. “He kept me distracted,â€� he said. “If I hit a shot and I started talking about it, he’d say, ‘hey, let’s talk about something else.’ He never let me talk about golf. He was crazy. I was so calm.â€� Stroud also said his father was able to help him with his confidence going into Sunday’s final round and that his father knew he would excel in the unique format. “My dad sent me a text last night, he goes, ‘Hey, I don’t want to get in your way,’ he said, ‘But this is a good format for you. You’ve been making a lot of birdies. Just go out and make as many as you can, see if you can make a couple of eagles,’â€� Stroud said. “And sure enough I made two eagles on the weekend.â€� Despite it being his first win on TOUR, Stroud said he doesn’t have a celebration planned and his focus is now looking ahead to the PGA Championship. “I got my two baby girls — I was planning on going home because I wasn’t in the PGA Championship, going home to Houston and hanging with them for a week. But now I get to play Quail Hollow, which is an awesome, great golf course,â€� Stroud said. “My phone is dead from all the text messages coming in. That’s a good problem. I’ve gotta go charge that. Call my wife. I know she’s freaking out at home.â€� APPLEBY SURPRISES HIMSELF Stuart Appleby capped off a remarkable week with a tie for fourth at the Barracuda Championship. He had five birdies and one bogey in his round Sunday. Appleby said he enjoyed the change from stroke play events. “It’s a dynamic format. You never quite know where you are, quite as simple one shot can go either way,â€� Appleby said. “It’s interesting because you can come from behind or you can build a big lead.â€� Appleby said he has had a tough year and he still can’t wrap his head around how well he played this week. He said he hopes to build off his experience at Montreux. “I really even barely have my body going well to play for four days,â€� he said. “Hopefully this is something to run me in, for the next few, where I feel like I’m hitting and putting good. I just have to understand that I have a lot of experience in these situations and I need to use it. Good experience versus so much of the stuff I’ve had recently and go on.â€� TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Richy Werenski, in his first year on the PGA TOUR, fell short in the playoff Sunday but said he can learn from the disappointment. “I haven’t experienced it before. I think it’s going to help me learn for the next time I’m in a playoff. I can just build off of this,â€� Werenski said. He said he was not flustered by the playoff atmosphere, as fans crowded around the 18th green. “I’ll learn from this experience and take it to the next time I’m here. The week was really good, solid, felt like I really could have played a lot better. I think everybody always says that. But I know I definitely don’t have my best stuff. My game is trending in the right direction.â€� BEST OF SOCIAL

Click here to read the full article…

Read MoreRead More

Winner’s Bag: Chris StroudWinner’s Bag: Chris Stroud

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017| 3:03

Chris Stroud won his first PGA TOUR title in a sudden-death playoff at the Barracuda Championship. Here’s a look at Stroud’s entire bag setup. Driver: TaylorMade 2017 M2 (Fujikura Speeder Evolution S shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: TaylorMade RBZ (Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana shaft), 14.5 degrees 5-wood: Callaway XR (Mitusbishi Chemical Tensei Blue shaft), 19 degrees Hybrid: Adams Super 9031 (Oban Kiyoshi Hybrid shaft), 21 degrees Irons: Cleveland 588MT (5-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shaft), Cleveland 588 Precision Forged MB (6-7; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts), Srixon Z Forged (8-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts) Wedges: Cleveland 588 Custom (51, 55 and 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts) Putter: Odyssey White Ice D.A.R.T. Ball: Srixon Z-Star

Click here to read the full article…

Read MoreRead More