Hatton holds off Fisher to retain Dunhill title

DUBLIN, Ohio – Jack Nicklaus says he still believes Tiger Woods can break his major championship record and has stamped Woods as one of the players to beat at this week’s the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Speaking as the host at Muirfield Village, the 18-time major winning Nicklaus said he’s not prepared to write off the 42-year-old Woods when it comes to adding to his 14 majors, despite the fact we are coming up on 10 years since Woods last hoisted a major trophy. Nicklaus did concede Woods needed to learn to win again and figured The Memorial Tournament that Woods has won five times prior would be a great place for it to happen. Woods has 79 PGA TOUR wins but after multiple back surgeries hasn’t won since 2013. “He is a tough competitor, he’s a hard worker, and he’s still driven. So that’s why I never counted him out,â€� Nicklaus said of Woods winning again. “I still think he’s got a shot at breaking my record. But whether he does or he doesn’t, even with 10 years passing, it doesn’t make any difference. I think he’s still, he’s still a great athlete and a great golfer.â€� In eight starts this season, Woods has finished inside the top 12 five times including a runner up finish at the Valspar Championship. He has continually knocked on the door of victory without quite getting it done. Nicklaus is still amazed Woods is playing at all after four back surgeries, including fusion surgery last year. “I am very happy for him. I never thought he would play again after the fusion. I am not a doctor but I never dreamed you could fuse somebody and they could go play golf,â€� Nicklaus said. “It’s amazing… maybe his strength may have saved him. I am sure it helped him.â€� The last time Woods was at Muirfield Village was in 2015 where he made the cut on the number before shooting a career worst 85 in the third round. But Nicklaus says that memory can be forgotten amongst the wins in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2012. “We all play bad rounds. Tiger’s swing right now is probably better than it was. If Tiger can just play reasonably well tee to green, with his short game, he will be in contention,â€� Nicklaus continued. “I think that he’ll win when he believes it himself between his ears. “When he really starts to believe that – and maybe winning here would be one thing that would (help that) … I think he’ll win and do I think he’ll win majors again? Yeah, I think he’ll win majors again.â€� But now he has a plethora of young stars standing in his way. Players who Nicklaus feels may not have had the immediate success they’ve experienced had Woods not had his lengthy periods away from the game in the last decade. Nicklaus said other players “all folded up their tents and went homeâ€� when Woods would move up a leaderboard in his prime. But without his presence in recent years, the likes of FedExCup holder Justin Thomas, and players like Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama have all emerged. “While he was away from the game all these young kids have come along and learned how to play and learned how to win,â€� Nicklaus said. “So he doesn’t have the fear factor that he had when he was playing.â€�

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HOUSTON - Dustin Johnson has been on the PGA TOUR for more than a decade, but he has the opportunity Sunday to accomplish something he's never done before. RELATED: Leaderboard Johnson has 23 wins, but he's never been victorious after shooting over par in the opening round. Despite shooting 2-over 72 on Thursday, Johnson will start the Vivint Houston Open's final round just three strokes behind leader Sam Burns. Johnson followed his poor opening round with back-to-back 66s. He compared those last two rounds to the form he showed in the FedExCup Playoffs, when he finished 1st-2nd-1st to claim his first FedExCup. Johnson was admittedly rusty when he teed off Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course. This is his first tournament since his sixth-place finish at the U.S. Open in September. Johnson missed his next two scheduled starts after testing positive for COVID-19. He isolated alone in a hotel room for 11 days, unable to practice or work out. "The most movement I made was to the shower," Johnson said earlier this week. He didn't start hitting balls until a week before the Vivint Houston Open and had to cut his first practice session short because of the fatigue that followed being sedentary for so long. Johnson made five bogeys on his first nine holes at Memorial Park. "I was driving it well, I was driving it in the fairway and I was making bogeys from the fairway," Johnson said about his opening round. "Just a little off with the irons, just a little rusty ... from competition. ... Until you get out here and you’re kind of playing in competition, you don’t really know where your game’s at." He's made just three bogeys in 45 holes since. He was bogey-free on Saturday. He's second in driving distance, 12th in driving accuracy and fourth in greens hit. Only two players - Brooks Koepka and Will Gordon - shot lower Saturday. "Obviously after the first nine holes I’ve played pretty solid and I like the way I’m playing. I’m swinging well," Johnson said. "I'm seeing a lot of similarities to how I was playing back when I was playing really well a couple months ago. The game’s feeling really good going into next week and obviously we’ve still got another day tomorrow and I feel like I’m in a good position with a chance to win."

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