Welcome to the West finals, Steph Curry. The two-time MVP dropped 35 points and caught fire during a third-quarter blitz as Golden State rolled to a 41-point Game 3 rout of Houston.
No one was happier about Sunday’s rain-delayed final round than Aaron Wise. With the moisture slowing down Trinty Forest’s firm fairways, Wise leaned on his favorite club in the bag — a 10.5-degree Callaway Rogue driver — en route to his first PGA TOUR title. Wise put Rogue in play at the Sony Open and hasn’t looked back. He hit all 14 fairways during the final round and led the field in strokes gained: off the tee for the week, picking up more than 1.5 strokes with the driver. In addition to his strong final round performance, he recorded the longest drive of the week during the third round with a 402-yard poke on the 9th hole. “I felt like when it rained today I was really going to tear the course up just because it allowed me to hit driver, which is my strength, and, you know, I got that [Callaway] Rogue driver and absolutely love it,” Wise said. “I’m smashing it. I really — I took it apart with the driver today. I got a lot of short irons in my hand and was able to make a lot birdies.” Wise also ranked No. 1 in strokes gained: approach the green with a set of Callaway Apex MB irons and three Vokey Design SM7 wedges. He was equally impressive on the greens with Odyssey’s O-Works Red V-Line Fang CH putter, gaining an average of 1.3 strokes per round with the flat stick. Here’s a look at Wise’s entire equipment setup. Driver: Callaway Rogue (Fujikura Pro Tour Spec 75 shaft), 10.5 degrees 3-wood: Callaway Rogue (Fujikura Atmos Black 8X shaft), 15 degrees Utility Iron: Callaway X-Forged Utility (2-iron; UST Mamiya Recoil Prototype Hybrid 85F5 shaft) Irons: Callaway Apex 16 (4-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), Callaway Apex MB 18 (5-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (50-12F, 56-08M and 60-04L degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Putter: Odyssey O-Works Red V-Line Fang CH Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X
After splitting the first two games of the Western Conference finals on the road, Golden State headed home and won with authority in Game 3.
Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Trinity Forest Golf Club just south of Dallas hosts for the first time and plays 7,380 yards to a Par-71. Wise Won 21-year old Aaron Wise fired a final-round 65 to post 23-under-par 261. He defeated Marc Leishman by three shots to win for the first time in his 26th career start on TOUR. The rookie joins Austin Cook and Satoshi Kodaira as the only rookies to collect the biggest check this season. After finishing T2 at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, I don’t need to detail his story again but he checks off a major box in fantasy golf: He’s a winner. He won in college, on the MacKenzie Tour and last year on the Web.com Tour. Guys like him have closed the deal enough times to know what it takes to slam the door shut. His stellar play included leading the field in SG: approach the green and GIR as he found 66 of 72. He was second in SG: off the tee and tee to green, plus was T2 with 25 birdies. He was a slacker off the tee as he hit just 50 of 56 fairways, just good enough for T6. I think we learned plenty from the former Oregon Duck this week. I’ve seen plenty of guys finish T2, take a week off and then disappear. Instead he was in the final pairing on Sunday, tied with Marc Leishman, and beat him by three shots. Moving forward gamers have to pay attention as his two best finishes were on a very difficult Quail Hollow Club track and a brand new layout at Trinity Forest. His flexibility to play well on both of those tracks shows how special his game is and can be. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: So much for Jordan Spieth and his 45 previous rounds on this course! I thought he’d have a distinct advantage this week, especially on the greens, but that was hardly the case. He knocked the cover off the ball but couldn’t get it in the hole as his trusty short game, both chipping AND putting, let him down. He rakes at Colonial so he goes right back into the lineup for me next week. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: Jimmy Walker doubled No. 18 Saturday and added another bogey on Sunday but after a high-pressure T2 last week at THE PLAYERS, I’m not sure any of us can complain. This is the latest in the season I’ve EVER used him in One & Done games so I’m down with a top 10! It’s great to see him approaching full health as well moving forward. Forest without Trees Trinity Forest played three different styles this week and two of them led to premium scoring conditions. The first two rounds the wind wasn’t in play and Leishman set the low round of the week with 61. After the wind picked up Saturday, the scores went up and the players had to adjust to the cross winds and slicker greens. Finally on Sunday, after a four-hour rain delay, they saw zero wind and optimum scoring conditions including the numbers above in the final round. Of the top 31 players on Sunday, 29 of them were UNDER par. Sunday 62, Again Spieth likened this place to Royal Birkdale before the week started. I opined maybe even similar to Chambers Bay in my preview. Branden Grace has now raked at all three tracks mentioned above. He was leading the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay late on Sunday before one errant tee shot found the train tracks. He is the only player to shoot 62 in a major championship and he did that at Royal Birkdale last summer. His 62 today, with a bogey, on his birthday reinforced his class and a bit of #NappyFactor as he missed the Zurich Classic for the birth of his son. Rounding Off the Podium Keith Mitchell and J.J. Spaun both began the day on 11-under T7. Both finished the day T3 with Grace after firing matching 63’s. This is Mitchell’s third top-10 finish in his last seven events on his own ball. Spaun, who missed time earlier this spring due to a nerve issue in his elbow, picks up his first podium since his solo second at The RSM Classic last November. Spaun opened with 64 so don’t think this is a “one-round wonder”. Open for Business? Most accounts suggested that Adam Scott needed a top-10 finish this week to move into the OWGR top 60 Monday and qualify for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills next month. With a bogey-free 65 to close, the Aussie finished T9. Since he’s returned to his driver from 2010 and went back to his broomstick putter, he’s cashed T11 and T9 the last two weeks. If he’s No. 61 when it all shakes out on Monday, the former champion at Colonial is in the field this coming week at the Ft. Worth Invitational. Sunday Noise Usually in this section I stick in the contenders that didn’t fire in the final round but with almost the entire field firing under-par scores on Sunday, I’ve chosen a few who might have slipped through the cracks for gamers. Playing on the opposite side of the course, Fabian Gomez, Nate Lashley, Robert Streb and member Beau Hossler all shot 64. They all moved up plenty but there was also a reason they were playing on the other side of the course. … Oh, look, Charles Howell III fired 65-66 on the weekend to claim T9. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 68.253 (-2.747), the easiest of the week and that’s not surprising after the weather delay. … The scoring average for the week was 69.435 (-1.565) as the wind only blew one round of the four. … Ryan Blaum led the field with 26 birdies. … Hideki Matsuyama (T16) beat Spieth this week but I’d take a look at his ball-striking numbers before running him back into the lineup. … Spieth’s longest putt made this week was 12 feet, 11 inches.
Aaron Wise cruised to his first PGA Tour victory Sunday, shattering the AT&T Byron Nelson record at 23 under on a new course in a race to finish before nightfall after a four-hour rain delay.
Wise came out on top in a two-man race between he and Marc Leishman thanks to a stellar final around at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Shohei Ohtani delivered another brilliant pitching performance, and received enough help from his scrappy offense, to lead the Angels to a 5-2 win over the Rays at Angel Stadium, snapping the club’s five-game skid. Johnny Field homered for Tampa Bay in the loss, as Sergio Romo struck out three in his second consecutive start.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With his victory on Sunday night at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Aaron Wise secured the 500th PGA TOUR title by a former Web.com Tour player. Wise played the Web.com Tour in 2017, compiling six top-25 finishes in 16 starts, including a win at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth in in June. The former University of Oregon standout finished 18th on the Tour’s Regular Season money list to earn his PGA TOUR card for the 2017-18 season, and entered the week in Dallas at No. 56 in the FedExCup standings, thanks to a career-best T2 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago. “It’s incredible to think of the vision Commissioner Beman had for the Web.com Tour, and how pivotal it has been over the last 29 years in preparing, identifying and transitioning the game’s next generation of PGA TOUR stars,� said Web.com Tour president Dan Glod. “Five-hundred PGA TOUR victories by former players is an impressive number and speaks to the depth of talent we see each week on the Web.com Tour. This milestone clearly demonstrates that our members are prepared to win as soon as they reach the PGA TOUR and continue to have sustained success.� The Web.com Tour, which was founded in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour, delivered its first PGA TOUR champion in 1991 when Bruce Fleischer won the New England Classic in a seven-hole playoff for the lone victory of his TOUR career. Fleisher made 12 combined starts on the Ben Hogan Tour between 1990 and 1991, recording four top-five finishes – including back-to-back T3 efforts leading into his breakthrough week at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts. Since that inaugural victory, the Web.com Tour has paved the way for 17 former players to win 23 major championship titles, including the last three PGA Championships (Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day). In addition to major championship titles, eight former players have won THE PLAYERS Championship at least once in their career, including 2018 champion Webb Simpson. In 2012, Jacksonville, Florida-based Web.com became the umbrella sponsor of the Web.com Tour, with a 10-year agreement in place through 2021. With 50 PGA TOUR cards available for the following season (since 2013), the Web.com Tour has become the path to the PGA TOUR. Twenty-five TOUR cards are reserved for the leading money winners at the end of the 22-event Regular Season. Another 25 are up for grabs at the conclusion of the four-event Web.com Tour Finals that follow the Regular Season in September. “The Web.com Tour is producing high-caliber professional golfers ready to compete on the PGA TOUR, and the reason is clear. People in every profession can succeed if they have determination and backing from the right team and tools,� said David L. Brown, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Web.com. “It is gratifying to partner with the PGA TOUR to help golf’s current and rising stars succeed and achieve their potential. Congratulations to Aaron Wise on the win and thank you for demonstrating the power of the Web.com Tour.� That formula has given way to immediate success for a number of graduates in recent years. During the PGA TOUR’s 2016-17 season, the Web.com Tour’s Class of 2016 featured nine graduates winning 10 times, including Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele, who became the first rookie in history to win the TOUR Championship. Thus far during the TOUR’s 2017-18 season, five players from the Class of 2018 have earned titles, including Ryan Armour, Austin Cook, Brice Garnett, Andrew Landry and Wise.
DALLAS — Aaron Wise cruised to his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday, shattering the AT&T Byron Nelson record at 23 under on a new course in a race to finish before nightfall after a four-hour rain delay. The 21-year-old rookie shot a 6-under 65 to beat Marc Leishman by three strokes as both became the first to finish the Nelson at 20 under or better in the first year at Trinity Forest. The treeless links-style layout was defenseless with softer fairways and greens and no wind once the morning storms passed. The Nelson celebrated its 50th anniversary with a return to Dallas after 35 years at the TPC Four Seasons in suburban Irving. Rory Sabbatini set the previous record on that par-70 layout at 19-under 261 in 2009. Wise, the 2016 NCAA individual champion at Oregon, reached 20 under with his third birdie in the first seven holes. Branden Grace matched his career-best 62 from last year’s Open Championship — which was the lowest round ever in a major — and finished at 19 under with J.J. Spaun and Keith Mitchell, who had matching 63s. Hometown star Jordan Spieth shot 67 to finish 11 under.
Ariya Jutanugarn arrived at Kingsmill Championship with no expectations, and it was a strategy that paid off handsomely. The 22-year-old Thai star birdied the second hole of a playoff Sunday to win the LPGA Tour event for the second time in three years. “When I’m thinking about winning, I never win,” Jutanugarn said.
