Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy win Zurich Classic

NASSAU, Bahamas — The degree Masters champion Scottie Scheffler earned from the McCombs School of Business at Texas did not equip him with the skills to figure out the new formula for the Official World Golf Ranking. He is No. 2 in the world. He can go back to No. 1 if he wins the Hero World Challenge, simple as that. “I don’t like being No. 2,” he said. “I don’t like finishing second.” Scheffler took a step in that direction in the relentless wind at Albany. He ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine for a 4-under 68, leaving him in the group one shot behind defending champion Viktor Hovland. Hovland knows a little about wind. The Norwegian saw enough of it during his amateur days across Europe, and then he starred at Oklahoma State. Hovland chipped in for eagle for the second straight day, had three straight birdies on the back nine and had a 70 for a 36-hole total of 5-under 139. Scores typically are much lower in the holiday event Tiger Woods hosts for a 20-man field of elite players in the Bahamas. The course was soaked and played long on Thursday. It dried out in 30 mph wind on Friday. Xander Schauffele leaned on exquisite wedge play for a 68 and joined Scheffler, Cameron Young (69) and Collin Morikawa (71) in the group one shot behind. Tom Kim dropped two shots on the final three holes and that gave him a 72, leaving him two shots behind. That’s not the reason the 20-year-old South Korean raised both arms after he had signed his card. Scrolling through his phone, he learned South Korea had advanced to the knockout stage in the World Cup. “Goose bumps,” Kim said as he stretched out his arms. Scheffler spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone this year, which earns him the Mark H. McCormack Award. That was a product of four wins against strong fields in the spring, including his first major. The Masters was his last win. Rory McIlroy replaced him with a win in South Carolina in October, and now Scheffler has a chance to grab it back, even if for a short time. McIlroy is expected to be No. 1 when the year ends regardless of what happens in the Bahamas. The model went from rating the top 200 players in a field based on their world ranking to rating everyone in the field using the “strokes gained” formula, which measure actual scores and adjusts for relative difficulty of each round. It favors deeper fields, regardless of how many of the top players are there. And it won’t be fully integrated until next August. But there has been no shortage of complaints, with even Woods weighing in this week that it’s a flawed system. Some of the criticism stems from the new formula not giving as much credit to smaller fields compared with full fields. “I think now I would say the top players are not bringing as much weight to events as they should,” Scheffler said. The Hero World Challenge has 15 of the top 20 in the world. It also has only 20 players, and so the winner will get slightly fewer points than the winner of the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. “But it’s also really tough to rank golfers when they’re not playing the same schedule,” Scheffler said. “So I think as we all start to play together more often and you get the best players playing together more often, it’s going to be much easier to rank those guys. “It’s a tough system. It’s not something that’s easy to get right,” he said. “In other sports, you have a record and golf is not necessarily a record. It’s a challenging system. I think they went from one extreme to the other, and we’ll meet in the middle, hopefully, and find something that’s a little bit better.” The ultimate measure remains the low score, and that belongs to Hovland. Woods, who is not playing this week because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, is the only player to have won the Hero World Challenge in consecutive years. He’s not sure how he’s getting it done, especially in this wind. “It’s kind of strange, like I knew it was windy and I feel like I missed so many putts,” Hovland said. “And I still don’t feel like I’m hitting it very good. I’m not comfortable over the ball, but the ball’s going straight and I’m giving myself looks.”

Click here to read the full article…

SILVIS, Ill. — J.T. Poston made up for two back-nine bogeys with an eagle on the par-5 17th, shooting a 4-under 67 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the John Deere Classic. Trying to complete a wire-to-wire victory after tying for second last week in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, Poston made a 13 1/2-foot eagle putt on 17. “That was huge kind of going into tomorrow,” Poston said about the eagle. “I wasn’t quite as sharp today off the tee and had to play a little defensive into some of the greens. Nice to put two good swings on there and make that putt to kind of capitalize and get some ground back that I had lost.” He had a 19-under 194 total at TPC Deere Run. Playing partner Denny McCarthy birdied the final two holes for a 66 to join Scott Stallings (64) and Emiliano Grillo (65) at 16 under. “Was nice to finish that way,” McCarthy said. “Nice to make a putt on 18. Nice to see something go in going into tomorrow. It’s a good feeling to kind of feel like I got something out of round, birdieing the last two.” Poston opened with rounds of 62 and 65 to take a four-stroke lead, then played the front nine in 3 under Saturday with birdies on Nos. 2, 5 and 8. He dropped a stroke on the par-3 12th, birdied the par-4 14th and bogeyed the par-4 15th before making the big putt on 17. From Hickory, North Carolina, the 29-year-old Poston won the 2019 Wyndham Championship for his lone PGA TOUR title. “Just trying to stay patient and composed,” Poston said. “I’m not trying to get too ahead of myself. Just trying to take it one hole at a time. Being in this position, I’m trying to focus especially on the shot in front of me and do the best I can and go from there.” Stallings birdied Nos. 15-17. “Look forward to the opportunity.” Stallings said. “Today was a big step in the right direction to tomorrow.” Grillo birdied four of the last five. “Everybody is in the same situation,” Grillo said. “Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to make the most out of it. Definitely going to be a tough battle tomorrow.” Iowa native Zach Johnson, the 2012 winner, was 8 under after a 67 in his 20th consecutive start in the event. He also eagled 17.

Click here to read the full article…

SILVIS, Ill. — Sebastian Munoz of Colombia had a 4-under 67 on Saturday for a one-shot lead going into the final round of the John Deere Classic that feels as though it’s just getting started. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bryson DeChambeau selects new caddie Rain overnight and more during the third round left the TPC John Deere soft and prone to low scoring, and just about everyone took advantage. Munoz overcame two early bogeys by keeping a clean card on the back nine. He took the lead with a tee shot into 6 feet on the par-3 16th hole and was at 16-under 197. He led by one shot over Brandon Hagy, who is still looking for his first PGA TOUR victory in his 93rd career start. Hagy also had a 67. Five players were two shots behind, a group that included Scott Brown, who had a 63 to match the low score of the round. Adam Long (64), Cameron Champ (64), Kevin Na (66) and Ryan Moore (68) joined him at 14-under 199. “The beauty of this place is it ain’t over until it’s legitimately over,” said Zach Johnson, a past Deere winner who had a 67. He was six shots behind. Ten players were within three shots of the lead, all of them knowing what it would take in the final round — birdies. Lots of them. “You’re going to have to be in attack mode here,” Brown said. “Typically, it’s at least 20-under par or a little more. For me, that’s another 7 under for tomorrow if you look at it that way.” Five of the last six winners of the John Deere Classic finished at 20 under or better, the exception being Bryson DeChambeau four years ago when he captured his first PGA TOUR title at a paltry 18 under. Luke List is among those within three shots of the lead despite his struggles. List began the weekend with a one-shot lead. He didn’t make a birdie until the 10th hole, and when he missed a 6-foot birdie attempt on the final hole, he had to settle for a 71. Even so, he still has a chance at his first PGA TOUR title. Of the 20 players within five shots of the lead, seven have never won on TOUR. Five of the seven players within two shots of Munoz are not yet eligible for the Open Championship next week a Royal St. George’s in England. The leading player from among the top five gets in the final major of the year. Munoz already is eligible, while Na has withdrawn because of international travel requirements. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, a three-time winner at the John Deere Classic who chose to help celebrate the tournament’s 50th anniversary instead of defending his title in the U.S. Senior Open Championship, had a 68 and was seven shots behind. Stricker birdied his last three holes.

Click here to read the full article…