Jason Day replaces longtime mentor on bag at BMW

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Xander Schauffele was the comeback kid earlier in his career, winning with low scores on Sundays to overtake the leader. It was the route he took to his first four individual titles on TOUR. It wasn’t until this year that he won from ahead. RELATED: Leaderboard “I’ll take a win any time, any way. I’m not picky,” Schauffele said Sunday, though he admitted “it feels better” to win as the 54-hole leader. It’s more rewarding,” he added. Schauffele started his career by going 0-4 when starting Sunday with the lead. But things are starting to change. First, Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal over local favorite Hideki Matsuyama after taking a one-shot lead into the final round. Then Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay produced a front-running victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in May. Last month’s Travelers Championship was the first of Schauffele’s five individual TOUR titles that he won as the 54-hole leader, however. “It’s what I want to do,” he said. He has another chance Sunday. He leads by two at the Genesis Scottish Open after shooting a 66 that matched the low score on another windy day at Renaissance Club. Rafa Cabrera Bello is in second place, while a pair of Texans – Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer – are three back, along with England’s Jordan Smith, who already has won this week, taking home a car for both he and his caddie after making an ace on the 17th hole Friday. U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is four back, as is TOUR rookie Alex Smalley and Cameron Tringale, who is 6 over par after a first-round 61 that had him three ahead of the field. Schauffele is looking to continue another trend, as well. He’s been unbeatable in recent weeks, winning the Travelers two weeks ago before beating a strong field at the unofficial J.P. McManus Pro-Am on Tuesday in Ireland. Schauffele led entering the final round there, as well, shooting 64-70 to finish a shot ahead of FedExCup No. 2 Sam Burns. “You see players do it all the time, you get in the good swing of things, start to get comfortable seeing certain shots and seeing certain putts go in,” Schauffele said. “Players always have good stretches and trying to make this one of my best.” It’s well-timed, as well, with the 150th Open at St. Andrews around the corner. Schauffele was runner-up in the 2018 Open Championship after losing the first 54-hole lead of his career. He’s trying to win back-to-back TOUR starts for the second time in his career, though his victories in the 2018 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Sentry Tournament of Champions were separated by several weeks. How well is Schauffele playing? He’s leading despite playing from the harder half of the draw, following a first-round 72 in this week’s toughest conditions of the week with a 65 and 66. “If you’re trying to win when you’re on the bad side, you just have to be better,” he said. Cabrera Bello has experience on his side at Renaissance Club, a links-inspired course built and owned by Americans. He won here five years ago, and surged into contention Saturday by playing the first four holes of the back nine in 5 under. “I’ve been lucky enough to have won here before,” he said. “I always want to win, if not the Home of Golf, the country where golf was invented, playing links golf and with beautiful, sunny and windy conditions, it just makes it even more fun.” Schauffele also took advantage of the scoring holes on the back nine, starting with a birdie on No. 11 after hitting a provisional tee shot because he feared his first was lost. Birdies on 13, 15 and 16 gave him a four-shot lead, but he bogeyed the last two holes to halve his advantage. “Made some of the worst swings all day at the end there,” Schauffele said. “Just have to clean it up.” His experience as a leader has helped him confront the situations that await Sunday. He said he “needed” the Olympic victory. “I needed to get over the hump. I needed to … win while having the lead,” he said. That experience helped him keep calm at the Travelers Championship, admitting things moved too quickly the previous times he held a lead. “I’d be sitting back back in the hotel or … house on Sunday thinking, ‘What happened today?’” he said. He’s better prepared and playing better, setting the stage for a win that would make him one of the favorites entering The Open.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. — Si Woo Kim birdied two of the final three holes to finish a rock-solid, 8-under 64, coolly rallying past late-charging Patrick Cantlay by one shot to win The American Express on Sunday for his third PGA TOUR victory. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Si Woo Kim, The American Express A year after Kim withdrew from the desert tournament because of a back injury following a tough first round, he began the final round with a share of the lead as he attempted to win for the first time since THE PLAYERS Championship in 2017. The 25-year-old South Korean didn’t flinch when Cantlay shot a 61 and surged out of 13th place to the front while breaking the Stadium Course record by two strokes. Playing six groups behind Cantlay, Kim comfortably birdied the par-5 16th to pull even. Kim then buried a 19-foot birdie putt on the island green on the 17th to take the lead, joyously pumping his fist when his perfectly paced putt dropped. Kim wrapped up his third bogey-free round of the tournament — all on the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course — with a two-putt par on the 18th to finish at 23-under 265. Kim had a much better time than he did last year in his return to the Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope. A year ago, Kim shot a 15-over 87 in the opening round on the easier neighboring Nicklaus Course before withdrawing. Australia’s Cameron Davis shot a 64 to finish in a career-best third at 20 under. Tony Finau had a 68 and finished fourth after starting the final round with a share of the lead in his quest to land his long-awaited second PGA TOUR win. Cantlay was in 56th place when the third round began, but the Southern California native’s 65-61 finish shot him out of the crowded field and nearly led to his second victory of the 2020-21 season. He also won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Thousand Oaks last October when it was relocated from Japan. The 28-year-old Cantlay made 11 birdies in the final round, including six in eight holes on the front nine. Cantlay capped his spectacular round with a 37-foot birdie putt on the 18th, pumping his fist subtly for the few fans clapping from their houses near the green. Cantlay was born in Long Beach, went to high school in Anaheim and was the Division I player of the year at UCLA before his pro career. All told, Cantlay made 20 birdies in his final two rounds, offset by two bogeys Saturday. Third-round co-leaders Max Homa and Finau both faded, with Homa struggling to five bogeys in a 76, leaving him at 11 under. Finau posted his third top-10 finish of the season, but couldn’t keep up with Kim.

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Billy Mayfair is the reason Tiger is 11-1, rather than unbeaten, in PGA Tour playoffs. And the 51-year-old is rather proud of it. What’s Tiger think about that 1998 anomaly that happened so near his hometown?

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