Collin Morikawa wins WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession

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RIDGELAND, S.C. — Chesson Hadley moved a step closer to his first PGA TOUR victory in seven years, opening a four-stroke lead over Harris English and six over Dustin Johnson on Sunday in the rain-delayed Palmetto Championship at Congaree. RELATED: Leaderboard | Chesson Hadley in driver’s seat at Palmetto Championship at Congaree Hadley, English, Johnson and Lee Tain were all on the 18th hole when the horn sounded to stop play because of lightning. Rain followed about 10 minutes later and officials waited more than two hours for things to clear before telling the players they had to return to finish Sunday morning. Hadley, in the final group, had just driven into the fairway. English and Tain were preparing to putt. Johnson had yet to hit. Hadley stands 19 holes away from closing out a surprising week with his second career TOUR victory after entering this tournament off five consecutive missed cuts. Hadley surged late with four birdies on a five-hole stretch of the back nine to reach 14 under. English was 10 under. Johnson, who was tied for the lead early in the round, dropped into a third-place tie with South Africa’s Garrick Higgo at 8 under. Higgo finished with a 68. Hadley was holding a halfway lead for the first time in his PGA TOUR career. And paired with world No. 1 Johnson, Hadley seemed poised to fall — especially after his opening drive went left of the fairway and led to bogey. One hole later, Johnson’s birdie had them tied for the top. But it was Johnson who faltered, looking more like the error-prone ball striker who missed cuts at the Masters and the PGA Championships the past two months than the one who confidently took control of his home-state Congaree Golf Club in the two opening rounds. Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, 11th in the world, and Bo Van Pelt were tied for fifth at 7 under. Hatton shot a 68 while Van Pelt had the day’s lowest score at 66. Hadley, the PGA TOUR’s rookie of the year in 2014 whose only victory came that same season, moved back on top with three straight birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes. The last was a perfectly struck putt from 32 feet away to separate from the field. Hadley had missed 10 cuts in his last 12 tournaments and acknowledged he wasn’t sure what to expect at Congaree, filling in for the RBC Canadian Open which was called off due to COVID-19 for a second straight season. So Hadley went out and shot 11-under 131 his first two rounds — his best start to a PGA TOUR event since 2016 and his first-ever 36-hole lead on TOUR. He found that form again when he needed it most on the back nine to regain the lead after surprise challenger Lee had birdies on four of the first five holes to move in front at 11-under. Hadley held firm after his opening bogey before his birdie run left him on top once more. Lee is a 31-year-old from Columbia, Maryland, who had to qualify last Sunday to make the field for only his third start on the PGA TOUR. He was four shots behind Hadley and in the next-to-last group when his early surge took him to the front. But Lee, whose biggest accomplishment may be the NCAA Division III individual title he won in 2013 for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps combined college team, could not maintain his poise during one of the biggest rounds of his career with three bogeys and a double bogey over a five-hole stretch of the back nine. English may be the most capable of spoiling Chesson’s chances. English has won three times on TOUR, including this past January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was bogey free with five birdies through 16 holes. But he missed an 8-footer to save par on the 17th. He has a birdie try on the 18th when English returns to complete the round.

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – It might be the U.S. Open but a couple of Englishmen looked right at home in the blustery conditions at Shinnecock Hills. While there was no rain to go with the high winds the pair grew up around, Ian Poulter and former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose certainly felt right at home in the morning wave. Poulter, who recently won at the Houston Open, put together a fighting 1-under 69 to be tied for the lead on the windswept course. Rose, the winner at the recent Fort Worth Invitational, showed poise on his way to a 1-over 71, positioning himself extremely nicely to repeat his efforts from 2013 at Merion. “I’m aware of the big picture of this tournament and I knew what today was all about,â€� Rose said after seeing plenty of other big stars put up huge numbers. “It was about hanging in there. If I’d a shot 72 or 73, it would be a good day’s work as well. Today is about eliminating a bad round, and I think it’s turned into a really positive startâ€� Rose hit a very impressive 13 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation despite the high winds gusts of up around 30 miles per hour. For Poulter it was a welcome change to his usual U.S. Open efforts. A more relaxed attitude was the catalyst. From his debut at Shinnecock in 2004 Poulter played 12 straight U.S. Opens through 2015 but his best finish was a tie for 12th back in 2006. “Through most of the U.S. Opens, I haven’t enjoyed very many, to be honest. They’re difficult. They’re hot. They’re stressful. Feels like you’re pulling teeth every single hole you play,â€� Poulter said. “This week, I’ve changed my mindset. I’m here to enjoy my golf this week, to play freely, to go out and just go play golf. If I hit it in the rough, I hit it in the rough. I’m going to try and make par the hard way and just don’t get too bogged down with it.â€� OBSERVATIONS PIERCY MAKES MOST OF ALTERNATE SPOT … Scott Piercy had to play 42 holes just to qualify for the U.S. Open. He was the first alternate out of the Memphis, Tennessee, qualifier, and wasn’t added to the field for Shinnecock Hills until Monday. He teamed with Billy Horschel to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April, but he was so frustrated with his game that he walked off four holes into Wednesday’s practice round. He called his wife and told her that he’d likely be back home in Las Vegas by Saturday. Now he’s in contention at the U.S. Open. Playing in the day’s first group, Piercy shot a 1-under 69 on a windy day where many of the world’s best players were simply struggling to break 80. How did Piercy prepare for the first round at Shinnecock Hills after cutting his last practice round short? “We went home and crushed some pizza,â€� said Piercy, who’s 34th in the FedExCup. He also watched videos of his swing on Instagram in search of a fix for his ball striking frustrations. He found an old drill that he used in Thursday’s pre-round warmup. He was unsure how well it would transition to the golf course, though. He called his opening tee shot “a little sketchyâ€� but he made three birdies and just two bogeys in Thursday’s trying conditions. Piercy was the runner-up at the U.S. Open at Oakmont two years ago, shooting 1 under par at another old-school USGA test. He also struggled with his swing in the days leading up to that U.S. Open but then had the best ball-striking week of his life, he said. GOOD ON YOU GREGORY … You could have forgiven England’s Scott Gregory if he had of walked straight off Shinnecock Hills and into the nearby Atlantic Ocean. But to the 23-year-old’s credit he fronted up to talk to media after becoming the first player to shoot in the 90s at the U.S. Open since Felix Casas shot 92 at Bethpage Black in 2002. After qualifying out of the English sectionals Gregory struggled to a 22-over 92. He had 10 bogeys, three double bogeys, and two triple bogeys on his card. REAL U.S. OPEN RETURNS … A year after Brooks Koepka won with a 16 under total at Erin Hills a traditional U.S. Open broke out at Shinnecock. Scores ranged from 1-under 69 to 22-over 92 in the morning wave and averaged more than 6 over. Read more about the troubles for the world’s best players here. NOTABLES BROOKS KOEPKA – The defending champion had it under par early before fading to a 5-over 75. His play was pretty solid short of a few three-putts. RORY McILROY – The Northern Irishman was certainly not immune to the tough conditions, shooting his worst ever U.S. Open score with a 10-over 80. PHIL MICKELSON – Lefty’s quest for his national Open is going to be very tough after an opening 7-over 77. JORDAN SPIETH – The 2015 U.S. Open champion and current Open champion battled to an 8-over 78. JASON DAY – One of the favorites leading into the tournament Day had his worst U.S. Open round in relation to par with a 9-over 79. PATRICK REED – The only man with a chance to win the grand slam opened with a relatively solid 3-over 73.    RICKIE FOWLER – Fowler ground out a 73 only slipping up twice, with a double bogey and a bogey.    QUOTABLES I’m in a good place mentally. And that definitely helps. I enjoy the fight. I enjoy the grind … Especially when you’re on the right side of the fight. When you get a bit cut up and bruised, it can change pretty quick.For me, it was kind of like, all right, calm the mind. Get this crap out of your head.The pin locations were on the greens, which was nice.

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