Day: January 9, 2022

How to watch Sentry Tournament of Champions, Round 4: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV timesHow to watch Sentry Tournament of Champions, Round 4: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

January 9, 2022January 9, 2022| 7:30

The final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions gets underway Sunday from the Plantation Course at Kapalua. The star-studded field includes Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 6-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 6-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 4-6 p.m. ET (NBC), 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Saturday, 3:15 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups). 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. (Featured Groups), 4 p.m.-8 p.m. (Featured Holes). PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ Radio: Thursday-Friday, 4–10 p.m. ET; Saturday, 5–10 p.m. ET; Sunday, 3–8 p.m. ET. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) Note: The weekend TV windows could change based on NFL windows. FEATURED GROUPS Phil Mickelson, Harris English Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau MUST READS Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm light up Kapalua with course record 61’s Underdog Smith ready for Sunday rumble with Rahm at Kapalua Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith pull away to share lead at Sentry Tournament of Champions Five things to know about the Plantation Course Everything you need to know about 2022 Gooch goes from ‘hometown legend’ to PGA TOUR winner

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Underdog Cameron Smith ready for Sunday rumble with Jon Rahm at KapaluaUnderdog Cameron Smith ready for Sunday rumble with Jon Rahm at Kapalua

January 9, 2022January 9, 2022| 5:39

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Cameron Smith watched World No. 1 Jon Rahm ram home a 28-foot birdie on the 17th hole that must have felt like the 500th haymaker to the face in a heavyweight title fight. It was Rahm’s 11th of the day to go with an eagle and lone bogey and saw the Spaniard join the Australian on top of the leaderboard that Smith had owned over the first two rounds and most of the third at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. It surely was a blow that might leave the plucky Aussie on the canvas as he lined up a 28-foot attempt of his own. Instead, the gritty competitor from the working-class suburbs of Brisbane nailed his ninth birdie of the round to continue an incredible contest. Rahm won the battle on Saturday as he closed with another birdie to post a course-record 12-under 61 and join Smith at the top of the board at 26-under for the week. But Smith (64) is not ready to surrender the war as both take a five-shot buffer over Daniel Berger (66) and sit six clear of FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay (66), Australian Matt Jones (62) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (65). Smith knows Rahm will start the favorite on Sunday but he’s far from intimidated. In fact, he revels in the underdog role. “I love to compete. Probably over the break there more so than missing golf I think I just missed competing,” Smith said. “I didn’t do a lot of stuff and it’s great to be out here and in the hunt on the weekend. “It was really good fun out there today. Obviously playing nice golf helps. But watching Jon was pretty intense there on that back nine, some of the best golf I think I’ve ever seen, definitely some of the best putting. “Now it’s one more day to go with him. Hopefully we can do much of the same tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.” After both players were even through four holes, they matched birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth holes while only a missed five-foot birdie try from Smith on the eighth allowed Rahm to close the gap. Further matching birdies came at 10, 11 and 14 before Rahm needed eagle to best Smith’s birdie on the 15th. Matching birdies on 16 and 17 followed before Rahm pulled level with another on the last. With the second (67.816) and third (67.711) rounds setting new low scoring average records at the Plantation Course since 1999, Rahm and Smith stopped short of calling it a two-horse race on Sunday. But they know they have the chance to make it one. “We had a fun battle today and I’m guessing tomorrow’s going to be more of the same. We’re going to need a lot of birdies to get ahead and get the win,” Rahm said. “If we get a similar day someone can come and shoot 10, 11, 12-under… What I have to keep doing is just keep hitting it as well as I am tee to green. Keep putting it in the fairway and keep hitting good iron shots, give myself plenty of looks, and some of them will go in. You can get hot on this golf course and hopefully I can do the same thing tomorrow.” In Friday’s second round, Rahm struggled with the speed of the greens and made just 48 feet, 4 inches of putts. On Saturday he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on the way to 132-feet, 10 inches worth. He also dialed in his approach play, gaining over three strokes on the field. “I only left one short and I couldn’t believe it stayed short,” he said. “It all started on 2. I made that putt, I made that putt on 4, and it gave me a lot of confidence and I kept going, made a couple of those putts that yesterday I left short and it gave me so much confidence. “But a number of those birdie/eagles were very short putts so it also speaks to the ball striking I had today.” Smith is chasing the Hawaii double having won the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2020. He has now held the lead, or a share of it, over the first three rounds. He is also seeking to be the third Australian to win at Kapalua after Stuart Appleby won three straight in 2004-06 and Geoff Ogilvy went back-to-back in 2009-10. “Hawaii reminds me so much of where I grew up, it’s insane. The grass that we hit off, the greens being quite slow and grainy. Yeah, it’s awesome, I love it here,” he said. “I know it will be a challenge tomorrow but I’m looking forward to it. We all want to win and you have to beat the best to do that on the PGA TOUR so it’s nothing to shy away from.”

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Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith pull away to share lead at Sentry Tournament of ChampionsJon Rahm, Cameron Smith pull away to share lead at Sentry Tournament of Champions

January 9, 2022January 9, 2022| 4:49

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Jon Rahm matched the low score of his career, tied the course record at Kapalua and played his last 12 holes in 11-under par for a 61. He needed it just to catch Cameron Smith in the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Saturday. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Justin Thomas lights up Kapalua with course-record 61 In an outrageously low-scoring start to the new year on the PGA TOUR, Rahm and Smith pulled away from the rest of the winners-only field by going shot-for-shot, putt-for-putt across so much of the back nine on the defenseless Plantation course. Rahm capped off his birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie finish with putts from just inside 30 feet and 15 feet for his 12-under 61. That tied the course record set a few hours earlier by Justin Thomas, who was one shot behind when he finished and nine shots back when the day was done. The average score of 67.7 was the lowest at Kapalua since the Tournament of Champions moved to the west end of Maui in 1999. The previous record was 67.8 set the day before. There’s nothing to stop these guys except themselves, and that wasn’t happening. Rahm and Smith were at 26-under 193, five shots clear of Daniel Berger, who had a third consecutive round of 66. That wasn’t nearly good enough for this perfect week of warm weather, very little wind and extraordinarily low scoring. Ernie Els set the PGA TOUR record for lowest score to par at 31 under in 2003 at Kapalua. That’s very much in jeopardy. “Some really good golf from both us,” Smith said. He had a three-shot lead at the start of the third round, was still three shots ahead through six holes and then was 8-under par over his last 12 holes — and he lost the outright lead. Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world and looking likely to keep the ranking, was at his best in his first competition since the middle of October. He closed out the front nine with three straight birdies and started the back nine with two straight birdies. The only holes were he had to settle for par were No. 12 (where he missed a birdie putt from just inside 12 feet) and No. 13 (he left a 10-foot putt short). His best was a second shot into the par-5 15th to rolled to 4 feet for an eagle. That pulled him within one shot after Smith had to settle for a two-putt birdie. They matched birdies the rest of the way, both making from just inside 30 feet on No. 17, until the closing par 5. Both came up short, not unusual with a front pin and the grain running severely away from them. Smith narrowly missed from 15 feet, while Rahm holed his 8-foot birdie putt. As for the other 36 winners in the field? Not all of them are out of it. Patrick Cantlay was trying to stay with the leaders until his wedge to a back pin on the 16th came out hot and found the rough behind the green, leading to a bogey that felt much worse. He wound up with a 66 and fell six shots back, along with Matt Jones (62) and Sungjae Im (65). Thomas had a 74 in the opening round and had little reason to like his chances until he pulled away by playing his last seven holes in 7 under. That gave him a 61 and at least some hope, just not for very long. All 38 players were under par, with Jason Kokrak bringing up the rear at 5-under 214.

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Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm light up Kapalua with course record 61’sJustin Thomas and Jon Rahm light up Kapalua with course record 61’s

January 9, 2022January 9, 2022| 2:57

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Two-time Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Justin Thomas added the Plantation Course record to his Kapalua superlatives, only to have his new mark matched by world No.1 Jon Rahm just hours later in Saturday’s third round. The pair shot blistering 12-under 61’s with Thomas surging up the leaderboard early before settling into a tie for eighth with a round to go. His place in the record books alone was short-lived as Rahm put on a clinic during an incredible battle with overnight leader Cameron Smith. Rahm’s 61 sent him to 26-under for the tournament, joining Smith (64) at the top of the leaderboard. The lead pair are five clear of the nearest chasers. Pre-tournament favorite Thomas sat dead last after the opening round thanks to a pedestrian 1-over 74 and while he bounced back with a 67 on Friday, he was still miles behind pace-setter Smith. But on Saturday in perfect conditions the 2017 and 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner notched up two eagles and eight birdies in a scintillating effort. The 28-year-old played the last seven holes in seven under and barely missed a 22-foot eagle try on the final hole for a 60. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just took advantage of all the easy opportunities and chances that I had and hit a lot of really good drives, quality iron shots and wedges in there to, again, if there’s such a thing as an easy 12-under, I definitely felt like it was,” Thomas said afterwards. “I wasn’t crazy aggressive today. When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens you attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re in last or first. You’re just trying to make birdies and I felt like that’s what I did.” Rahm was even par on his round through four holes after a loose tee shot was lost on the fourth before notching up an eagle and 10 birdies over his last 14. He finished with a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie flourish. “It was fun,” Rahm said. “The first few holes are birdieable, but you come out the gates, it’s almost like a little bit of a warmup and then you get to 5 and with a good tee shot it’s reachable and very accessible, actually. I hit a 9-iron today and yesterday. So it kind of gets you going. You get on the birdie train and things like today can happen.” The pair beat the previous record of 62, held by Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Chris Kirk, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi. It was his fifth round of 61 or less since 2015, the most of any player on TOUR. While he found just 11 of 15 fairways off the tee Thomas hit all 18 greens in regulation and made 113-feet, 3-inches worth of putts. Kentucky native Thomas will likely need to replicate his heroics on Sunday and have some help if he is to add a third title at the Plantation Course given he sits nine shots back. But while victory might be beyond his grasp it was still important to him to surge as high as possible. “When I looked up and was in last, I felt like that was pretty humbling,” Thomas said. “But I felt like yesterday closing that round out at least gave myself a chance to get a respectable week, respectable finish out of it, and if I did something berserk this weekend, I might have a chance to win.” He now holds the course record at both Hawaii stops on the PGA TOUR having also shot a 59 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during his 2017 victory in the Sony Open. “It’s fun. Every golf course you go to there’s a scorecard in the locker room… whether the people know me or not or whether they know whoever shot the course record or not, it seems like that’s kind of a part of the club at that time. So, it definitely means something,” he said of course records. “I still remember my first. It was a Junior World practice round. I can’t remember the name of the golf course. I was like probably nine years old. It was like an executive course. I just remember because Tiger had the course record, and I remember beating him and it was like the coolest thing obviously I had ever done at that time. “Something tells me it’s not still standing. But that was the first one I had ever broken and I was pretty pumped about that.”

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Justin Thomas lights up Kapalua with course-record 61Justin Thomas lights up Kapalua with course-record 61

January 9, 2022January 9, 2022| 2:57

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Two-time winner Justin Thomas added another accolade to his Kapalua kit bag after a blistering course-record 12-under 61 in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Pre-tournament favorite Thomas sat dead last after the opening round thanks to a pedestrian 1-over 74 and while he bounced back with a 67 on Friday, he was still miles behind pace-setter Cameron Smith. But on Saturday in perfect conditions, the 2017 and 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner notched up two eagles and eight birdies in a scintillating effort. The 28-year-old played the last seven holes in seven under and barely missed a 22-foot eagle try on the final hole for a 60. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just took advantage of all the easy opportunities and chances that I had and hit a lot of really good drives, quality iron shots and wedges in there to, again, if there’s such a thing as an easy 12-under, I definitely felt like it was,” Thomas said afterwards. “I wasn’t crazy aggressive today. When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens, you attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re in last or first. You’re just trying to make birdies and I felt like that’s what I did.” Thomas beat the previous record of 62, held by Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Chris Kirk, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi. It was his fifth round of 61 or less since 2015, the most of any player on TOUR. While he found just 11 of 15 fairways off the tee, Thomas hit all 18 greens in regulation and made 113-feet, 3-inches worth of putts. The Kentucky native will likely need to replicate his heroics on Sunday if he is to add a third title at the Plantation Course given the overnight leaders continued to go low. But while victory might be beyond his grasp, it was still important to him to surge as high as possible. “When I looked up and was in last, I felt like that was pretty humbling,” Thomas said. “But I felt like yesterday closing that round out at least gave myself a chance to get a respectable week, respectable finish out of it, and if I did something berserk this weekend, I might have a chance to win.” He now holds the course record at both Hawaii stops on the PGA TOUR having also shot a 59 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during his 2017 victory in the Sony Open. “It’s fun. Every golf course you go to there’s a scorecard in the locker room… whether the people know me or not or whether they know whoever shot the course record or not, it seems like that’s kind of a part of the club at that time. So, it definitely means something,” he said of course records. “I still remember my first. It was a Junior World practice round. I can’t remember the name of the golf course. I was like probably nine years old. It was like an executive course. I just remember because Tiger had the course record, and I remember beating him and it was like the coolest thing obviously I had ever done at that time. “Something tells me it’s not still standing. But that was the first one I had ever broken and I was pretty pumped about that.”

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