There were good moments, bad moments and plenty of moments of scrambling for Tiger Woods in the first round of the U.S. Open. Here’s how it all went down.
The 76ers have two of the brightest stars in the game in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and they bank their success on their talent and level of play. Simmons’ all-around play and all-around importance to the team earned him a spot on the All-NBA Third Team . Simmons joins Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, Rudy Gobert, and Russell Westbrook on the team. What is a little surprising is that Embiid was not named to any of the All-NBA Teams. While he did have an off-year by his standards, he still averaged a gaudy 23 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while being named an All-Star for the third consecutive season
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For the fourth straight year and sixth out of seven overall, Rockets star James Harden was voted to the All-NBA First Team. Having earned the honor in six different seasons, Harden has tied Hakeem Olajuwon with the most All-NBA First Team spots in franchise history. Harden received 89 votes for the All-NBA First Team; nine votes for the Second Team; and two for the Third Team, giving him 474 out of a possible 500 points. Harden is also one of three finalists in the league's 2019-20 MVP race alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, with the winner expected to be named later this week
MAMARONECK, N.Y. - Jordan Spieth sounded exhausted. Frustrated. Cooked. His 3-over 73 was far from the worst round at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but it might have been the most eventful. He got his ball stuck in a tree (second hole, double-bogey), made three straight birdies (holes 4-6), hit just three fairways (Phil Mickelson style), and putted well (Jordan Spieth style). At least there, on the greens, the 27-year-old still looks like the 2015 FedExCup champion. "There’s a lot that’s off," he said. "I’m not really sure. If I knew, I’d fix it. So I’m kind of just - kind of working through it and looking forward to having a little more time off to figure it out. "I mean, yeah, I’m late behind it," he added. "The second I try to get back out in front of, it’s hooking." Spieth's record is beyond enviable. He's an 11-time PGA TOUR winner, three of those majors. But he has not won in over three years (The Open Championship). And while he was sputtering Thursday, playing partner Patrick Reed (66, including an ace), his old Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup colleague, was zooming up the leaderboard. What's more, by day's end Spieth was already eight shots behind another familiar contemporary, Justin Thomas (65). The whole experience left him sounding equal parts exasperated and bewildered. "Standing on a tee at the U.S. Open and not exactly knowing where the ball is going to go is not a great feeling," Spieth said. "I know you guys probably haven’t experienced that before, but it’s not incredibly enjoyable. But I’ll grind it out. I don’t ever give up. I have no reason to. I’m here. "I feel that, even with not having much tee to green, I can somehow still shoot an even or under par round on this course," he added, "and that’s incredible self-belief in the grind." Spieth's day began with a bogey followed by an escorted ride in a golf cart after he couldn't find his drive and had to go back to the second tee. While he rallied with three straight birdies to get back to even par, it didn't last. Things began to unravel with a bogey at the par-3 10th hole, where he couldn't save par from a greenside bunker. He was in the trees at 11, but hit a terrific second shot under one branch and over some others to inside 11 feet. Then he missed the birdie putt and double-bogeyed the par-5 12th. Needing another run of birdies, he couldn't find one, and wound up with the same score as fellow former U.S. Open champions Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and several others. It goes like that at Winged Foot. While Spieth told himself going into the round that he would just try to play a succession of draws off the tees, he said he unaccountably found himself hitting fades, and getting into trouble. "All in all, shooting 3 over at a U.S. Open, feeling like I had no control, it’s not bad," he said. "Really struggling ball-striking. Found a way to kind of grind it out on and around the greens." The grind continues Friday.
Patrick Reed recorded a hole-in-one at the seventh hole in the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Watch it happen.
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MAMARONECK, N.Y. - The phone was in the bag. He put it there before the round, and by golly, it was going to stay there. Instead of snapping a photo, caddie Todd Thompson looked at the leaderboard and burned it into his memory. Davis Thompson, his 21-year-old son, was at 4-under-par and leading the 120th U.S. Open. "It was cool to see his name up there," said Todd, who in his day job is the tournament director for The RSM Classic, the PGA TOUR's regular stop in St. Simons Island, Georgia. PGA TOUR UNIVERSITY: Get to know Davis Thompson Cool? Well, OK, that's an understatement, but then Todd and his son are understated guys. Thompson bogeyed three of the last six holes for a 1-under 69 at Winged Foot, just four back of early leader Justin Thomas, while playing partners Harris English and Brendon Todd each shot 68. The all-Georgia group were the only threesome to all shoot under par in the morning wave. Familiarity helped. English, who like Thompson lives in Sea Island, Georgia, played a practice round with the kid at Ocean Forest last week as part of their preparation for Winged Foot. The kid won. Todd, who lives in Athens, Georgia, sometimes plays with Thompson when they're in town, and calls the younger player remarkably poised for his age. Thompson called it, "a comfortable pairing." He is the fourth-ranked player in PGA TOUR U, a new program that sends the top collegiate players to the Korn Ferry Tour to begin their professional careers, and the fourth-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earning his U.S. Open start. But he still looks as guileless as the paperboy, and his nerves needed soothing, at least early in the week. "Yeah, the first guy I think I saw was Rory," he said. "That was pretty cool. Growing up, I was around - I was growing up and getting really serious about golf when he was winning all of his majors. So I kind of looked up to him. I’m just very thankful to be here." He showed no signs of nerves with birdies on holes 6, 7 and 8, sending shock waves far and wide. On the other coast, Todd Thompson's boss Davis Love III was in Pebble Beach for the PURE Insurance Championship on PGA TOUR Champions, and cheering through his TV. "I woke up and my phone was blowing up," said Love, the 21-time TOUR winner who won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot. "The whole island is excited for Davis." So was Chris Haack, who is going into his 25th year as coach of the Georgia men's golf team. "When he was 2 under I was not surprised," Haack said. "When he went to 3 under, I thought, Awesome! When he went 4 under, I thought, Oh, my God, this is great. He's a momentum player. He's not flashy, not very talkative. I just love the work ethic. I've had a lot of really good players, and he works as hard or harder than anybody I've ever had." And as for Thompson? What did he make of being 4 under? "Just keep everything physical, not emotional," he said. "Just stay through my routines and just keep doing what I’m doing. Just take it one quality shot at a time, one hole at a time, and not thinking about the future or 18, but staying in the moment." Yep. Understated. He is not, by the way, named for Davis Love III. Todd Thompson and wife Leigh just liked the name. Their son grew up playing golf and basketball in Auburn, Alabama. When he was 12, Todd turned the golf instruction over to Eric Eshleman, Director of Golf at the Country Club of Birmingham, to avoid mixing up the father-son relationship. Davis Thompson helped lead Lee Scott Academy to six state titles, including individual titles in 2013 and 2015. He was an All-America at Georgia as a junior, and finished T23 as an amateur at The RSM Classic. Today, his legend extends all the way from Auburn to Sea Island. The most famous story might be Keith Mitchell, also a Georgia alum and the winner of The Honda Classic last year, making seven birdies in a match against Thompson - and losing 4 and 3. "He's unbelievably good," Mitchell told the PGA TOUR. English and Todd concur. "He’s just been very disciplined since day one," Todd said. "He doesn’t party. He practices efficiently. He has a very easy-going temperament, doesn’t seem to get too mad." Thompson hit what appeared to be a good tee shot at the par-3 13th hole Thursday, but the ball went too far and he made bogey. Todd got in his ear as they walked to the 14th tee, saying they were all fooled by the wind gust, that he'd hit a good shot, that he should keep his head up. Todd Thompson, who also played for Georgia, tried to qualify for the U.S. Open a handful of times, but never made it. So being on his son's bag has worked nicely on a few levels. "With the rules here for COVID and everything, it was the only way I could get here," he said. "My wife's not happy she's not here, because she would have loved to watch." Love III sees in Davis Thompson a player who will have absolutely no trouble making the transition from college to the PGA TOUR, when the time comes. "He knows how to play golf," Love said. "... I'm impressed with his demeanor; he's very even, doesn't get upset. It's perfect for a U.S. Open, perfect for pressure." Perfect for the TOUR, too, but there's no hurry. Davis Thompson is taking it one shot at a time.
Tiger Woods zig-zagged all over the leaderboard in the opening round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot before a rough finish left him fighting an uphill battle to claim an 83rd PGA TOUR win. Woods signed for a 3-over 73 in the opening round despite sitting in red numbers with six holes to play, leaving him eight shots adrift of early leader and playing partner Justin Thomas. A bogey, double-bogey finish spoiled what had otherwise been an impressive grind from Woods to continue the fight despite some bad breaks. "I did not finish off the round like I needed to. I made a bunch of putts in the middle part of the round. It seemed like most of my drives on the front nine landed in the fairway and ended up in bad spots, and I tried to stay as patient as possible, and unfortunately just did not finish off my round the way I needed to," Woods said. Coming off a bogey on the 17th following a wild drive into deep rough, Woods missed the final fairway to the left. He muscled his second shot to just short of the green but then chunked a chip shot that failed to make the surface. His fourth shot rolled out above the pin, leaving a treacherous downhill putt from 9 feet that snapped hard right to left. The 44-year-old was unable to coax it home, leaving a sour taste in his mouth given conditions were much more scorable than expected. "The golf course was set up fantastic. What they did with the hole locations were very fair today. It gave us an opportunity to make some birdies, and you look at most of the scores, and the guys took advantage of it," Woods said of the venue that yielded a winning score of 5 over the last time it hosted the U.S. Open, but had seven players under par from the morning wave. "The golf course is there to be had. Obviously they could have made it a lot more difficult if they wanted to, but I thought it was very fair. We have a long way to go. This is a long marathon of a tournament. There’s a lot of different things that can go on. I just wish I would have finished off my round better" In a day resembling a roller coaster ride, Woods was perhaps a little stiff in the cool morning air as he started slowly. The 15-time major winner had a great look at birdie on the opening hole from inside 20 feet, but it slid by the left side. Despite saving par with up-and-downs from greenside bunkers over his next two holes, he was quickly 2 over with bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes. A birdie on the sixth was wiped out with bogey on the eighth hole, but then Woods appeared to find his mojo as he birdied the ninth, 10th and 11th holes thanks to some brilliant putting. He connected from 31, 23 and 19 feet, respectively, and had fought his way back from 2 over to 1 under. But just as his putter had gotten hot, it found a way to cool off. Facing a great look at birdie on the par-5 12th from 9 feet looked to be heading dead center until the last possible second, it jumped right just a hair and brutally lipped out much to Woods' disbelief. Compounding his frustration, he followed it with back-to-back bogeys, and while he earned a shot back with a birdie bomb on the par-4 16th, he then dropped three in the last two holes.
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