U.S.’s Nelly Korda builds 4-shot lead at Olympics

This week we head to Memphis, Tennessee, and TPC Southwind, which has hosted the FedEx St. Jude Classic since 1989. Designed by Ron Prichard with input from Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller, TPC Southwind features undulating fairways and many lakes, streams and ponds. There’s also a windmill and a pair of grain silos, remnants of the dairy farm that once occupied the site. Since the 2007 inception of the FedExCup Playoffs (just 11 weeks away), five winners of the FedEx St. Jude Classic have advanced all the way to the Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship: Woody Austin (2007), Justin Leonard (2008), Brian Gay (2009), Dustin Johnson (2012) and Daniel Berger (2016). PGA TOUR LIVE is scheduled to air from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. After Featured Groups, the coverage will switch to Featured Holes at 4 p.m. The Featured Holes are the 239-yard, par-3 14th, which features an elevated tee and demands a forced carry over water, and the 530-yard, par-5 16th, which plays uphill but is still reachable in two shots by the long hitters. PGA TOUR LIVE can also be viewed on Twitter from approximately 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Thursday and Friday. (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup ranking in parentheses.) MORE: PGA TOUR LIVE times | Tee times THURSDAY Kevin Chappell (31), Billy Horschel (18), Cody Gribble (58): This group features recent TOUR winners Chappell (Valero Texas Open) and Horschel (AT&T Byron Nelson), plus the breakout champ of the Sanderson Farms Championship last October (Gribble). Chappell didn’t play TPC Southwind last year, but showed promise with a second-round 64 on the way to a T22 finish in 2015. Horschel is riding high after his playoff win over Jason Day. And Gribble, who missed the cut in his only other FedEx St. Jude start in 2013, is a much-improved player now. Tee time: 8:40 a.m. off 10th tee Daniel Berger (36), Rickie Fowler (8), Adam Scott (66): Berger is trying to find the form that saw him capture his first PGA TOUR win at TPC Southwind a year ago, when at 23 he became the second youngest winner in the history of the tournament. Fowler has been knocking on the door for his second win this season (T3 at Shell Houston Open, second at Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide). Scott, a 13-time TOUR winner, returns to Memphis this week for the first time since he finished seventh in his FedEx St. Jude Classic debut in 2007.   Tee time: 8:50 a.m. off 10th tee FRIDAY Graeme McDowell (102), Jim Furyk (149), Russell Henley (16): Henley has been the hottest player in the group after notching his third TOUR win at the Shell Houston Open. He tied for seventh at TPC Southwind a year ago. McDowell comes to Memphis having made five straight cuts. And don’t be surprised if you hear a lot about Furyk this week, which marks the 40th anniversary of the first 59 on TOUR (Al Geiberger). Eight different players have recorded sub-60 scores on TOUR, but only one, Furyk, has done it twice with a 59 and a 58. Tee time: 8:40 a.m. off 10th tee Phil Mickelson (43), Hudson Swafford (22), Brooks Koepka (17): Mickelson says he’ll skip the U.S. Open to attend his oldest daughter’s high school graduation, so the FedEx St. Jude went from tune-up event to main event. As it should. He has two seconds (2013, 2016) and a T3 (2015) in recent years at TPC Southwind, and is looking to break a victory drought that goes back to 2013. Koepka finished T2 and T3 here in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Swafford was having his best season after winning the CareerBuilder Challenge but has missed three straight cuts.  Tee time: 8:50 a.m. off 10th tee

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SAN FRANCISCO – Adam Scott is human. Often when this phrasing is used it refers to imperfection. It intimates a flaw in someone’s character. This is not one of those cases. In a sporting context when an athlete is described that way it most often refers to a mistake being made. They’ve shown such precision to their craft that one can mistake them for robotic or automatic and then a moment comes that proves otherwise. This is not one of those cases. Sure, Scott has one of the most rhythmic swings in the world of golf. One of the prettiest ever seen on the PGA TOUR to be fair. But this isn’t about Scott’s swing. Or any mistake, frailty or concern. This is about Adam Scott the father and Adam Scott the golf ambassador. This is about Adam Scott who, during a dire time in world history, has chosen to do what he can to help. To reach out and change the lives of others in small and big ways. Yes Adam Scott is human … in the best possible way. Scott returns to the PGA TOUR this week at the PGA Championship, the last of the top 30 players in the world to get back to competitive golf after the COVID-19 shutdown. He could have easily spent the nearly five months skiing the alps near his home in Switzerland. Or perhaps just eating up the sunshine in his flash residence in the Bahamas. Instead Scott sensed an opportunity amidst the uncertainty. The 14-time PGA TOUR winner gathered his wife and two young kids and headed to his native Australia. If it was to be an extended break Scott would do so reconnecting to his roots, hopefully passing on some of his culture to 5-year-old daughter Bo Vera and 2-year-old son Byron in the process. They weren’t the only kids to benefit from the move. Juniors at Caloundra Golf Club couldn’t believe it at first. A clinic with a Masters champion. Scott gave a lengthy presentation at the club on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast where an old friend, and junior adversary, Tom Arnott is the head pro. Every kid who had a question got to ask it, not that they needed to such was the depth of Scott’s demonstration. Anyone who wanted a photo also got one. One talented junior couldn’t make it. So Scott saw him later on and give him special attention. So what you might say. That’s the least he could do. Yep, but that was barely scratching the surface. Scott has become a mentor to those juniors. They began flocking to the course knowing Scott would likely be there at some stage. One of those is Tom’s son Bailey who was a freshman at Iowa State University last season. Scott, who first offered to fly Bailey home if he was stuck in the U.S., has now taken him under his wing. Bailey was the competitor for one of Scott’s “Nine Holes with a Mate” during the break. This was another touch Scott used to bring attention to his sport. Scott went live on Instagram to play these contests and answered questions to fans from all over the world. Still not that impressed? Well Scott used the platform to announce he would kick start a $5 junior program in the area and urged golf clubs around Australia to latch on. Scott offered cash from his own pocket to any club on the Sunshine Coast who created specific tee time blocks for juniors at just $5 a head. He challenged the rest of the country to do the same. It’s gathering steam. He also took on duties of an apprentice at the club, showing kids that even the first Australian to win the Masters is not too big to wash golf carts, work the pro shop and shag balls. Not convinced? Well let’s add these acts of kindness to the mix. Scott partnered with his sponsor Uniqlo to have 150,000 medical masks donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia, a non-profit organization that provides emergency and primary health care services over an area just short of three million square miles. They also donated jackets for the health care workers. In April, Scott heard about 76-year-old Ross Campbell who was suffering from severe brain and lung tumors. The illness and treatment had sadly affected Campbell’s brain, and the once avid golfer was now convinced he and Scott were best mates who often played together. Campbell would sit out in his wheelchair near an old shed on his property convinced it was the local clubhouse and Scott would be along any moment for their regular game. Now being in another state and being that there was a pandemic, Scott couldn’t attend for the game, not to mention Campbell’s condition. But he did make the call that Campbell waited for each day. They chatted like old mates with Scott playing the role to perfection and afterwards he sent a video message, including a putting lesson, that could be played for Campbell on any occasion. Back at Caloundra, Scott went to visit Craig Grant, a stroke victim not that much older than Scott himself, who had long sponsored the Caloundra junior programs. Grant is unable to speak but by all reports was clearly chuffed by the visit. Turns out Scott not only had a few beers and a long chat to boost Grant’s spirits, he even broke out his guitar and played some tunes. Who knew! Scott doesn’t want credit for any of this. That’s not his go. And no doubt there are countless other examples that have thus far gone unreported. The fact is that deep down he knows pitching in to help and reconnecting to the roots of the sport and his country could actually be the springboard for a renewed push towards golf immortality. “It took a while to get used to being a full-time dad, but it was great,” the now 40-year-old said of the extended time off. “It had been probably 20 years since I’d been home in Australia at that time of year and for that length of time, and I certainly enjoyed that very much. It was nice to be there with the family, and I think the break in some ways is going to prolong my career. You don’t get that break; the seasons kind of bleed into each other now. “Some of those things are things that I don’t get to experience that much (anymore). Although the bar and other things were closed at the club, it was still fun to be in a golf club environment and out the back of the pro shop with Tom catching up. I took advantage of a couple of those opportunities with my mates and played some of the local courses, which was fun. Hopefully it stimulated some interest in golf at that time when there were no other sports and golf was the only thing going.” During the last few weeks, Scott has honed his game in South Carolina at Congaree Golf Club. It comes as no surprise that this property is renowned for its support of junior golfers from around the globe. Scott was able to prepare like he often has for major championships, in relative obscurity. Opened in 2017 by billionaire founders Dan Friedkin and the late Robert McNair, Congaree doesn’t have members but rather ambassadors. Those individuals are titans in their fields who bring mentorship to the Global Golf Initiative that brings high schoolers who have the talent to make it into college golf but perhaps not the means into an intense program that helps set them on the path to higher education. While it is not clear if Scott is one of these ambassadors, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn he is, or now will be in the future. “The club there was very generous and let us use the facility even though they’re closed at this time of year. It also served a great purpose for isolating because we didn’t see anybody for a couple of weeks and did our isolation like we were meant to,” Scott said. While Scott has never had a break like this one, he has been decent off a spell in the past. He won The Genesis Invitational in February, just two months after his last start at the Presidents Cup and three months after his previous TOUR stroke-play event. This has him confident he can hit this packed stretch of championship golf without needing to adjust. His average efforts at TPC Harding Park in the past also don’t bother him. Scott is one of just three players in the field to have played the course in the 2005 World Golf Championships event (T29), the 2009 Presidents Cup (1-4 on losing team) and the 2015 World Golf Championshipa-Dell Technologies Match Play (0-3). “It’s exciting for me to think about seven majors in the next 11 months, especially at this point in my career,” he said. “I’d love to win a second major championship. It’s all I focus on, really. This is a big opportunity for me, and so are the next 11 months. “I haven’t played particularly well here in any of these occasions. However, the setup is a lot different this time around. They’ve managed to keep a lot of poa out of these greens, and that was very pleasing for me and probably everyone coming here this week. They’re pure. “And they’ve toughened the course up. Hopefully with a bit better focus and execution this week, I can perform a little better than I have here in the past. It’s a golf course that I feel very comfortable that I should be able to play well if I get my head down and perform.” If he could pull it off, it would be a popular victory to those Scott has spent time with during the last few months. Perhaps the final word should go to Arnott who told The Australian newspaper, “2020 has been a tough year but to get to spend time with a human of Adam Scotty’s quality … he’s touched a lot of people, believe me.”

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Russell Henley shot 1-under 69 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship and move a round away from his first PGA TOUR win in four years. Henley, who tied the lowest 36-hole score on TOUR this year, couldn’t keep up that pace at Sedgefield Country Club. Yet, he rolled in a 33-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 15th and went on to finish at 15-under 195 as he tries to win his fourth career title and first since the 2017 Houston Open. RELATED: Tee times moved up for final round Tyler McCumber, the son of 10-time TOUR winner Mark McCumber, shot a 66 and was at 12 under in second. He’s searching for his first win. The group of six four shots behind at 11 under included three FedExCup Playoff outsiders in Rory Sabbatini, Scott Piercy and Roger Sloan now on track to tee it up in the 125-man field for the postseason that starts next week at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Sabbatini, the Olympic silver medalist last month, has used his momentum from Tokyo to make a charge in the FedExCup standings. His 69 included a birdie on the 17th hole that moved him from outside — he began the week at No. 141 — to a projected place of No. 122. Piercy, too, continued his charge into the Playoffs with a 68. He was first man out at No. 126 when the week began. But his third straight round in in the 60s projected him to 93rd. Sloan also needed a big week to continue his season and he’s gotten it so far with a second straight 64 to move from 131st in the standings to No. 102. Others tied at 11 under were Branden Grace, Kevin Kisner and Kevin Na. Grace shot 64, Kisner 66 and Na 67. Former FedExCup champion Justin Rose, who started the week 138th in the standings, shot 69 after a bogey on the final hole. He’s 126th in the projections. There are no guarantees that current results mean anything come the next round — or next hole. Just ask Tyler Duncan, who made five birdies on his front nine to move up 61 spots to 101st. But Duncan played the back nine at 3 over for a 69 — and dropped to 150th by round’s end. It won’t be a normal final round either as the PGA TOUR will start earlier with the first golfers going off at 7 a.m. to beat expected bad weather later in the day. Golfers will also go off in threesomes and from the first and 10th tees. Henley, who entered at No. 46, was locked into the Playoffs long before this event began. He’s focused on finishing out the victory, something he could not do two months ago when he was in a three-way tie for the top after three rounds of the U.S. Open. Henley shot a final-round 76 at Torrey Pines to fall back. He looked as if he’d regained his form with his eagle on No. 15. But Henley missed a 13-foot par putt on the 18th to drop a shot. McCumber’s career best came this year with a second at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in the Dominican Republic last September. He had missed his past six cuts before getting hot this week. “You’ve got to stay in the process and I feel like I’ve been doing that pretty well and getting rewarded for it through the first three rounds this week, so taking that momentum into tomorrow,” he said.

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