Feng retains lead, while Kerr still earning attention at U.S. Women’s Open

LAS VEGAS - Cameron Champ smashed his drive on the par-5 ninth at TPC Summerlin, turned to Bryson DeChambeau and said, "there ... that's all I got Bryson," before giving him a fist bump. "Yeah that will roll," DeChambeau quipped as both had a chuckle. RELATED: Full leaderboard | How DeChambeau turned doubters into believers And roll it did. A further four yards past DeChambeau's 353-yard bomb. Between the two of them, and a third power hitter in Matthew Wolff, the trio displayed how to muscle your way around a golf course during the opening round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Between them they hit 28 drives of more than 300 yards. But DeChambeau also showed how to add finesse. The recent U.S. Open champion continued where he left off at Winged Foot with an eye-opening 9-under 62 to pace the morning wave. His round featured five occasions where he had a putter in his hand looking to make eagle - on all three par fives and two par fours. He didn't connect on any of them but kicked in those five birdies, plus four more. "That’s the advantage of power in this game now, that you can do those sorts of things … I didn’t make any of them, but it makes it easy. That’s five birdies right there and it makes the golf course a lot easier," DeChambeau said afterwards. "I would say that lowers the par to 67 out here, and that’s just the number for me. If I shoot 69 or 70 I feel like I shot a couple over." Technically DeChambeau hit 11 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens while needing just 29 putts. He gained over two shots on the field on the greens and almost three shots off the tee. He also casually shot a 59 in the Pro-am on Wednesday. For the record, Champ shot 67 and Wolff 68. But Champ was focusing on the final drive when the two did media interviews within earshot of each other. "I was swinging the driver good all day, (and on nine) I was like, you know what, let’s just see (if I can get him), and just mess around and it was more of a joke afterwards," Champ grinned. "I got him but he would have flown me by probably 20 yards ... but I got him on the roll, so there’s a difference, there’s a difference." Two seasons ago Champ was number one on TOUR in driving distance but DeChambeau relegated him to number two last season after his hulking transformation. "I got it past him a couple times, he got it past me a couple times and I’m going to try and hit it harder tomorrow," DeChambeau joked right back. Champ plays a low bullet ball flight while DeChambeau plays a high ball, or "moon ball" game as he calls it. Whatever you call it, it is impressive. "It was fun, it was awesome to play with all of them ... amazing to see the power that’s out here now. I think that’s a testament to the new generation that’s coming up and what it’s going to be like in the future," DeChambeau said. As is habit for the seven-time TOUR winner DeChambeau was looking to get to the range post round after claiming he "heel thinned" a number of shots. But he had to make a few stops first. He was flagged for a random drug test and also had to find fellow competitor Chesson Hadley. Hadley was part of the group ahead and was standing over a three-foot putt on the par-4 seventh hole when DeChambeau's tee shot bounded out of the rough and on to the putting surface behind him. The green is obscured from the tee as a dogleg left but DeChambeau cut the corner. According to ShotLink records he is the first player to ever drive that green. "I felt incredibly bad about that, I had no idea that they were on the green. They were ahead of us all day and I felt like they were off the green because of the time that we took on a few of the holes before that," DeChambeau said. "So that was my mistake and I felt really bad. I think it was Chesson, I have got to go find him and apologize ... but it was fun to hit it to 15 feet." Hadley wasn't concerned by the incident. "The only thing that was hurt was my ego. I'm glad I made the putt though because if I missed it would have totally been his fault," Hadley laughed in jest. That kind of shoulder shrugging laugh is kind of all anyone can do right now as DeChambeau continues to crush the ball and make more than his fair share of putts. If he continues to do it over the next three rounds he will prove near impossible to beat. "When I’m playing great golf I feel like I’ve got a great chance to win every week," DeChambeau said. "I feel like I have my golf swing under control and am making a lot of putts. I feel like I can shoot low on a lot of golf courses and usually that wins tournaments." Yes. It usually does.

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Harris English … Those who survive the gut check of qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs with timely success at the Wyndham Championship – as he did with a T11 to open the 2018 Playoffs as the 124-seed – present as intriguing storylines as soon as the next season commences. The 29-year-old has responded admirably to his latest lease on PGA TOUR playing privileges. He’s 7-for-7 in 2018-19, albeit with only one top-35 finish. It’s a stark departure from the disappointment of last season when he missed 20 of 31 cuts, and he’s in position to perform well again. He’s perfect in six appearances at Torrey Pines with three top 15s, including playoff loss in 2015. Last year’s T8 is his best finish in a non-additional event in his last 63 starts overall. He also comes having beaten par in his last 12 rounds, his longest such streak since he connected 20 in a row to bridge the holiday break of the 2013-14 season. J.J. Spaun … Can’t forget about this guy, especially in the event nearest his college stomping grounds at San Diego State University. The comfortable climes have been kind as he’s gone T9-T23 in his pair of appearances since debuting as a PGA TOUR rookie in 2017. He arrives this week having survived 12 straight cuts since August. Four went for a top-15 finish, two of which a T3. Although he scales to just five feet, nine inches, the 28-year-old holds his own off the tee while setting the standard in terms of precision tee to green. When considering a locale for his putter to catch fire, there’s no place like home. Rory Sabbatini … The 42-year-old born in South Africa made news recently for becoming a citizen of Slovakia. However, he’s made noise throughout his career at Torrey Pines. In 13 appearances since 2002, he’s rattled off two top fives among seven top 25s, including a T14 in 2017. En route to last year’s T20, he led the field in fairways hit and co-led in par-4 scoring. Ranked inside the top 25 in par-5 scoring in each of the last two completed seasons. Sam Burns … Casual fans are likely to remember him bettering Tiger Woods, 68-70, in the final round of The Honda Classic last year – going bogey-free no less – to finish T8. Heck, hardcore fans will recall that rare opportunity and execution as well, but they’ll also understand that it was anything but fluky. Although he doesn’t qualify as a rookie by definition this season, the 22-year-old is a first-time PGA TOUR member as a Web.com Tour graduate. He ranked third in the all-around on the developmental circuit in 2018 and led in putts per GIR, putting: birdies-or-better percentage and par-3 scoring. He’s fresh off a T18 at the Desert Classic where he finished T2 in fewest putts (100) and T3 in one-putt percentage. With length to give off the tee and supreme confidence with the flat stick, it’s not out of the realm of consideration that he’ll be smiling once again with Woods nearby at Torrey Pines. Adam Svensson … The PGA TOUR rookie from Canada made a wave with an opening 61 at Waialae Country Club two weeks ago. He didn’t sustain the ride to finish T43, but he regrouped for a career-best T18 at the Desert Classic. Like numerous entrants in the Farmers field every year, he has experience on the South Course at Torrey Pines via the Junior World Championships. In fact, among his numerous appearances was a victory in the boys 15-17 division in 2010. Other notables in that field included Xander Schauffele (T21), Beau Hossler (T27), Brandon Stone (T27), Gavin Green (T31), recent Mauritius Open champ Kurt Kitayama (58th) and Bryson DeChambeau (MC). Experience never hurts, but positive experience isn’t universal. While he hasn’t flashed it enough this season to prove it, Svensson profiles as an above-average putter. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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The 14th edition of the Presidents Cup continues Sunday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The U.S. Team and International Team will battle it out in different formats before the winning group hoists the trophy. The U.S. Team leads 11-7 over the Internationals as Sunday Singles gets underway. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Scoring Tee times MATCH 19 Justin Thomas (U.S.) vs. Si Woo Kim (Intl.), 12:02 p.m. Eastern MATCH 20 Jordan Spieth (U.S.) vs. Cam Davis (Intl.), 12:14 p.m. Eastern MATCH 21 Sam Burns (U.S.) vs. Hideki Matsuyama (Intl.), 12:26 p.m. Eastern MATCH 22 Patrick Cantlay (U.S.) vs Adam Scott (Intl.), 12:38 p.m. Eastern MATCH 23 Scottie Scheffler (U.S.) vs. Sebastian Munoz (Intl.), 12:50 p.m. Eastern MATCH 24 Tony Finau (U.S.) vs. Taylor Pendrith (Intl.), 1:02 p.m. Eastern MATCH 25 Xander Schauffele (U.S.) vs. Corey Conners (Intl.), 1:14 p.m. Eastern MATCH 26 Cameron Young (U.S.) vs. Sungjae Im (Intl.), 1:26 p.m. Eastern MATCH 27 Billy Horschel (U.S.) vs. K.H. Lee (Intl.), 1:38 p.m. Eastern MATCH 28 Max Homa (U.S.) vs. Tom Kim (Intl.), 1:50 p.m. Eastern MATCH 29 Collin Morikawa (U.S.) vs. Mito Pereira (Intl.), 2:02 p.m. Eastern MATCH 30 Kevin Kisner (U.S.) vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Intl.), 2:14 p.m. Eastern HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday, 7 a.m.-8 a.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock), 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock). Sunday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock) Radio: Saturday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday: 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR MUST READS Presidents Cup match previews: Sunday Singles Presidents Cup: Saturday match recaps Late rally leaves International Team a chance for Presidents Cup upset Tom Kim ignites International team hopes with epic day at Presidents Cup Spieth and Thomas go 4-0-0 for U.S. Team U.S. Team leads as Kim sparks International Team How the format, scoring works Nine Things to Know: Quail Hollow Club COMMUNITY Text +1 (704) 237-6877 or click here to get behind-the-scenes content from the Presidents Cup and stay up to date with all of the action from Quail Hollow.

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