Lee Westwood leaves PGA National confident despite missed cut

Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Gary Woodland, who hold a combined 18 PGA TOUR titles including six major victories, have committed to play in THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK from October 15-18. Koepka, who won THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in 2018 which vaulted him to World No. 1 for the first time in his career, will make a return to competition at the US$9.75 million showpiece after taking an eight-week break to recuperate from injury. He will be joined at Shadow Creek by fellow major winners, Morikawa, who secured his first major title at the PGA Championship in August, and Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open winner and runner-up at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in 2018. Schauffele, who has finished in the top-3 of the FedExCup standings in three of the past four seasons, will make his third appearance at THE CJ CUP. Koepka, a seven-time PGA TOUR winner and holder of four major titles, has not played since the Wyndham Championship on August 14. He qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs but withdrew from THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first of three Playoffs events. During the 2019-20 Season, he featured in 13 tournaments and enjoyed two top-10s, including a tie for second place at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. "I'm excited to get back out there at next week's THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. It's been a challenging but productive two months of rehabbing my injury. Looking forward to starting the new season in Vegas! As a past champion, I commend everyone at THE CJ CUP for moving forward with the tournament during this difficult time," said Koepka. Morikawa has quickly emerged as one of the PGA TOUR's rising stars. After enjoying a standout amateur career at University of California, Berkeley, the 23-year-old turned professional in 2019 and needed only six starts to secure his breakthrough on the PGA TOUR by winning the Barracuda Championship. In July, Morikawa claimed a playoff victory over Justin Thomas at the Workday Charity Open before lifting his maiden major title at the PGA Championship. Since becoming the 2017 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year following a two-win season, Schauffele, 26, has quickly established himself as one of the leading stars on TOUR with four career victories to date. During the 2019-20 Season, he enjoyed seven top-10s, including three runner-up finishes from 18 starts and missed only one cut. He lost in two playoffs at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and finished T2 at the FedExCup Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship. The 36-year-old Woodland notched six top-10s during the 2019-20 Season with a best finish of T3 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea last October where he shot weekend rounds of 65 and 66. The four-time PGA TOUR winner tasted major success with a three-stroke triumph at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last year. The latest commitments strengthen a star-studded line-up at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, with reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson, World No. 2 Jon Rahm, 18-time PGA TOUR winner Rory McIlroy and defending CJ CUP champion Justin Thomas already committed to the tournament, which was moved from Korea to the United States for this year only. Other marquee names in the field include Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth who each accepted sponsor exemptions. THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK will once again feature a 78-man field comprising of the highest ranked player of Korean nationality from the Asian Tour Order of Merit, up to five players designated by the Korean PGA and the top-3 available players of Korean nationality from the Official World Golf Ranking as part of CJ Group's vision to support the development of professional golf in Korea. The remainder of the field will be made up of the leading players from the 2019-20 FedExCup points list and sponsor exemptions. The CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK will be broadcast on Golf Channel October 15-18 from 5pm to 8pm (ET) and on both JTBC Golf and JTBC Golf & Sports channels in Korea October 16-19 from 3am to 9am KST. Shadow Creek, built in 1989 by renowned golf architect Tom Fazio, played host to The Match: Tiger vs Phil in 2018, which was a winner-takes-all shootout between PGA TOUR legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The exclusive course, owned by MGM Resorts International, is available only to guests of the company's properties.

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McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — K.H. Lee ran across the fairway to try to get a better view of the key shot in his second consecutive victory in the AT&T Byron Nelson. The South Korean must have known it would be close, same as the low-scoring drama around him that included hometown favorite Jordan Spieth and a couple of other major winners in Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas. Lee’s 240-yard shot on the par-5 12th hole stopped less than 5 feet from the pin, and the eagle put him in front for good Sunday on the way to a 9-under 63 and a one-shot victory over Spieth at TPC Craig Ranch. Lee earned 500 FedExCup points in the win and moved from No. 116 to No. 28. Spieth shot a 67 to finish a stroke ahead of Matsuyama (62) and Sebastián Muñoz (69), who held or shared the lead the first three rounds. Xander Schauffele had a career-best 61 and tied for fifth with Ryan Palmer (66) and Thomas (67). A year ago, Lee was playing for a spot in the PGA Championship, where he’ll be again next week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This time it was for a place in history as the 30-year-old joined Sam Snead (1957-58), Jack Nicklaus (1970-71) and Tom Watson (1978-80) as the only repeat winners at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Lee finished at 26 under, one shot better than last year. Spieth had to settle for another career-best finish in the event he so badly wants to win, a year after the three-time major champion was ninth but never really close in a disappointing final round. This final round was really close. Leading by one, Lee made a curling 12-foot putt to save par on the par-3 17th after a short chip ran long when Lee tried to find his footing in the sand with the ball above his feet just outside the bunker. Spieth missed a 9-foot birdie putt on 17 that would have pulled him even, then had to have eagle on the par-5 18th after Lee’s tap-in birdie. Spieth’s eagle chip stayed left of the hole. With short par 4s and reachable par 5s, the birdies never stopped at TPC Craig Ranch, the second-year home of the Nelson. There were 2,228 birdies after 2,007 a year ago, which was the most on the PGA TOUR last season. Eagles were plentiful, too. Last year, six players reached 20 under. This time it was 14. Even missed chances at eagles were costly, such as on No. 12 when Muñoz’s 6-footer circled the cup and stayed out, leaving him a stroke behind not long after Lee followed his clutch shot by making the short putt. Schauffele posted a clubhouse lead at 23 under with a birdie on 18 just as the last groups were making the turn. The 12-ranked player said he didn’t figure on hanging around long with birdies — and eagles — so plentiful at TPC Craig Ranch. He was free to go after Matsuyama’s eagle at 18 put the 2021 Masters champion a shot ahead. Still, Schauffele’s turnaround was remarkable in his first event since teaming with Patrick Cantlay to win the Zurich Classic of New Orelans. The reigning Olympic champion was 26 under over the final 49 holes, starting with eight birdies from No. 6 on in the second round to rally from 3 over and make the cut on the number (5 under). He began the final round nine shots back. Schauffele holed a 97-yard wedge for eagle on the short par-4 sixth then added eight birdies over the last 11 holes for the third score of 61 or better this week. Muñoz opened with his second 60 of the season, a first on tour. “I had no pressure to shoot a low score,” Schauffele said. “The leaders are expected to shoot at least five or six (under) to kind of keep the pace. So I was literally just trying to birdie as many holes as possible while being smart as well.” Justin Lower recorded the second of two aces in the round in the stadium setting on 17, landing a low 9-iron from 135 yards just right of the pin before the ball backed up and rolled in. Marc Leishman had the first hole-in-one on the 213-yard 15th, land a 7-iron short and watching it roll in. It was Leishman’s second career ace and the first at the Nelson since Tyler Duncan in 2018.

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