Jordan, ranked No 292, the surprise leader at Dunhill Links

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler four-putted the 18th hole. He could have six-putted it and still won the Masters, but then that would have been showing off. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tiger Woods ‘thankful’ to complete Masters Tournament | What’s in Scheffler’s bag? Scheffler’s world domination tour – stops in Sheboygan; Phoenix; Orlando; Austin; and Augusta, so far – is running smooth. It runs on solar power, wind, rain, cold, and reruns of “The Office,” a Scheffler favorite. Merchandising opportunities include a replica of his 2012 Yukon with over 180,000 miles on the odometer (he took it over from his dad) and a black vest that can be put on and taken off up to 71 times per round. The basics go like this. Scheffler started the day with a three-shot lead over Cameron Smith, guarded it as zealously as a toddler with his favorite stuffed animal, shot his second straight 71, and won by three over Rory McIlroy (64) and five over Smith (73) and Shane Lowry (69). That’s four wins in six starts, if you’re keeping score at home. No. 1 in the world, No. 1 in the FedExCup, and No 1 in your heart as he hugged family and friends coming off the 18th green. “It’s historic,” said Will Zalatoris (67, T6), who grew up playing the North Texas PGA junior series with Scheffler and competes against him and Jordan Spieth when they’re home. “He is playing the best golf in the world, and this is very reminiscent of Jordan in 2015.” Spieth won most every trophy that wasn’t nailed down that year, including the Masters and FedExCup. Scheffler, who now has won for the fourth time in his last six starts, is doing the same. If golf looked any simpler, it would have gutter-guards, like youth bowling. “Hats off to him,” said Rory McIlroy, whose final-round 64 included three hole-outs from off the green, was the best round of the day by three, and left him at 7 under par, three shy of Scheffler (71). “He’s sort of been head and shoulders above everyone else this week.” This week. Last month. The month before that. Whatever. This all started when Scheffler was paired with U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker for the final round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah last May. Stricker saw how well Scheffler chipped and putted, and what a good guy he is, and made him a captain’s pick for the U.S. squad that would take on the Europeans at Whistling Straits in the fall. All Scheffler did was go 2-0-1, including a 4-and-3 Singles win over then-No. 1 Jon Rahm. The week in Wisconsin gave Scheffler a new level of self-belief, and then he joined forces with veteran caddie Ted Scott in November. Shrewd and highly competitive, Scott won the 1994 world team foosball championship. More to the point, he won the 2012 and ’14 Masters with then-boss Bubba Watson. And here we are. Scheffler/Scott have won coast to coast, stroke play, match play, a major. “He has been on a heater,” said Patrick Cantlay (71, T39), who as the reigning FedExCup champ knows about heaters. “No one is even close to as hot as he has been the last three, four months.” Added Patrick Reed (74, T35), who won the Masters in 2018, of Scheffler’s presumed state of mind: “All the trouble, you don’t ever see it. You see basically flagstick or wherever you are trying to land, and honestly, the hole looks the size of an ocean. You feel like you can’t miss.” Zalatoris, who has known Scheffler since they were both 9 years old, credits their matches back in Dallas. Spieth, 28 and three years their senior, initially had a bit of a leg up. “We’re competitive people by nature,” Zalatoris said, “and if one guy is beating us every day, you kind of want to get a little better.” Streakiness is not a new phenomenon in golf. The question is how long the run lasts. Spieth couldn’t miss in ’15, and neither could Jason Day, who that season was the last player to win four times – including the PGA Championship – in six starts. Cantlay was the last to win in consecutive TOUR starts at the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship last summer. McIlroy looked like he would be unbeatable when he won four majors from 2011-14. Then came Spieth, Day, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Rahm. Cameron Smith (73, T3) held off Rahm at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, made 10 birdies to win THE PLAYERS Championship last month, and stuck close to Scheffler in the final pairing here Sunday. Until Smith triple-bogeyed the 12th hole, signed for a 73 and walked away with a T3 finish. What goes up must come down, eventually. Doesn’t it? “It’s really hard to stay up there for a long time,” said Rahm (69, T27), who played the final round with the king of the hot streak, Tiger Woods (78, solo 47th place), on Sunday. “Some players have been able to do it,” Rahm added, “but it’s just the next guy comes up, gets hot, and there you go. It’s a beautiful part of the golden age of golf we’re living in right now.” It’s certainly a golden age for Scheffler, who appeared to laugh at his four-putt at the last. He had made 21 birdies, nine bogeys and one double bogey that came so late it didn’t even matter as he batted the ball around the cup like Wayne Gretzky. Masters champion, high school basketball player, board game aficionado, hockey player – Scottie Scheffler can do no wrong.

Click here to read the full article…

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jon Rahm returned from a month off and played like he was never gone. Justin Thomas took the advice of a 15-year-old and had his lowest score of the year. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Dustin Johnson shoots 70 without a driver in the bag Both opened with an 8-under 63 on Thursday at THE NORTHERN TRUST as the PGA TOUR’s postseason began with no shortage of bizarre developments. Rahm, who missed his chance at the Olympics because of COVID-19, expected a little rust in his game. It just didn’t show on his card. He chipped in for birdie, saved par on the next two holes and was on his way. Thomas had benched his putter for bad behavior after he spent too much of the year not seeing putts go in the hole. But during his junior event last week, a teenager asked why he wasn’t using his old putter. “And I found myself defending myself to this 15-year-old,” he said. “I was like, ‘Why am I not using this thing?’ It’s not like I’m making a lot of putts with what I have. If you’re putting well, any of us can go out and putt with anything.” He didn’t hole all of them, but enough to record nine birdies for his lowest round since a 62 last November in Mexico. Bryson DeChambeau also made nine birdies. He was eight shots behind. His round of 71 was noteworthy because of the pars he made on No. 4 and No. 10. Those were the only pars he made all day. The nine birdies were offset by five bogeys and two double bogeys. It was the first time in 10 years someone shot par or better with two pars or fewer. Not to be overlooked was Dustin Johnson, one of the most stress-free players in golf — at least he looks that way — who uttered words rarely heard: “Threw me for a loop.” He was hitting drivers on the range, and hitting them well, right before teeing off when a few of them came off the club funny and another one sounded funny. His driver cracked, and Johnson headed to the first tee with 13 clubs and one head cover for his 5-wood. He had a spare 3-wood in the car — but no driver — and got that on the third hole. If that wasn’t enough, he decided on a putter switch at the last minute. He still managed a 70. Otherwise, there was a range of good golf in surprisingly strong wind off the Hudson River across from the Manhattan skyline. Harold Varner III had a 66 in the morning, boosting his Playoffs chances. He is No. 72 in the FedExCup standings, and only the top 70 after this week advance to the next tournament. With the points at quadruple value, some big movements are expected. The six players at 67 included Adam Scott (No. 82), Robert Streb (No. 68) and Mackenzie Hughes (No. 67). Open champion Collin Morikawa, the No. 1 seed, struggled to keep the ball in play and opened with a 74. Jordan Spieth at No. 2 opened with a 72. Rahm has endured the strangest of times with COVID-19. He tested positive on the day he built a six-shot lead through 54 holes at the Memorial and had to withdraw, and then returned to win the U.S. Open for his first major. And then after more negative test results than he can remember for The Open Championship — he tied for third at Royal St. George’s — he had two more negative tests prior to his departure for the Olympics before a positive result showed up. The next day, he took two more tests (both negative), but by then it was too late. He returned from his bout with COVID-19 by winning a major. This is different. He never had a chance to win a gold medal because he never made it to Tokyo. But he wouldn’t mind the same result, which in this case would be a FedExCup title worth $15 million. “I sure don’t want to have to rely on being pulled out of tournaments to be able to win one, let’s just say that,” he said. Thomas knows putts that don’t fall is not the fault of the equipment, but something had to change, so he benched his putter at he U.S. Open. Ultimately, it’s about getting the speed to match with the line of the putt, and he did that well for so much of the day. He holed a 35-foot birdie putt for his first lead on the par-3 14th, gave it back with a poor chip, and then drove the 283-yard 16th green to set up a closing stretch of three straight birdies. The day started with another development: Patrick Reed withdrew with a sore ankle, the second straight week he has had to withdraw. Reed is No. 22 in the FedExCup, and there are only two tournaments left to qualify for the Ryder Cup. He is No. 9 in the standings, and only the top six automatically qualify. The idea was to give it another week of rest and being ready for the next one.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…