Molinari outlasts loaded field to win Open

Patrick Reed won THE NORTHERN TRUST the last time it was held at Liberty National, in 2019. This one, though, has been one to forget. First Reed pulled out of the tournament with an ankle injury. Then, as his fellow competitors were playing the rain-delayed final round Monday, he issued a statement to the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis that he’s home in Houston battling double-pneumonia. “The good news is, my ankle is okay,” Reed wrote, in part. “The bad news is I’ve been in the hospital with bilateral pneumonia. I’m on the road to recovery, once I’m cleared from the doctors – I look forward to returning. I wish you all the best and I can’t wait to get back out there! “Thank you so much for your support,” he continued, “it means a lot to me. Also, a special thank you to the doctors, nurses, and staff at The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.” Like many players, Reed has had a demanding travel schedule this summer. He’s flown from the Rocket Mortgage Classic (T32) to The Open Championship (MC) to the 3M Open (T34) to the Olympic Games in Tokyo (T22), where he was a late replacement for Bryson DeChambeau. Then it was right back home for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee (T31). If Reed is unable to play this week at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, it would be three straight events he will have missed with illness or injury after spraining his ankle at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. Reed came into THE NORTHERN TRUST at 22nd in the FedExCup standings. He hasn’t missed the top-30 TOUR Championship since 2013. He’s also ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings for the team that Steve Stricker will captain at Whistling Straits next month. The top six in points automatically qualify; others will require a pick.

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As we roll through the second half of the season, players look to make the final push for the FedExCup at Glen Abbey. Round 4 tee times Round 4 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN PGA TOUR LIVE: Coverage – (2:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET). Telecast: Golf Channel (1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET), CBS (3 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET). Listen: PGA TOUR Radio (1 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET) NOTABLE PAIRINGS Dustin Johnson, Martin Flores 12:20 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Matt Every, Ian Poulter 12:30 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Sam Saunders, Jhonattan Vegas 1:10 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Andres Gonzales, Tony Finau 1:20 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Robert Garrigus, Gary Woodland 1:30 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Charley Hoffman, Kevin Chappell 1:40 p.m. ET off the 1st tee

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Top 10 win probabilities: Dustin Johnson (T2, -6) : 24.3% Justin Thomas (T2, -6) : 16.6% Gary Woodland (T2, -6) : 11.1% Bryson DeChambeau (T6, -4) : 7.0% Marc Leishman (5, -5) : 6.2% Jon Rahm (T12, -3) : 5.3% Kevin Tway (1, -7) : 5.3% Jason Day (T6, -4) : 4.9% Rory McIlroy (T6, -4) : 4.5% Webb Simpson (T12, -3) : 3.0% 10 biggest movers in terms of win probability Moved up: Dustin Johnson (+10.9%) Justin Thomas (+8.9%) Gary Woodland (+6.3%) Kevin Tway (+4.4%) Marc Leishman (+2.8%) Moved Down: Brooks Koepka (-7.1%) Francesco Molinari (-3.0%) Xander Schauffele (-2.8%) Keegan Bradley (-2.7%) Jon Rahm (-2.7%) NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut�, “Top 20�, “Top 5�, and “Win� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 10K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of The RSM Classic, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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