Billy Horschel, Talor Gooch share lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational

The Monday qualifier for this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree was held a day early to accommodate U.S. Open qualifying, but it didn’t lack any of the inherent drama. The final spot in the Palmetto field came down to an eight-man playoff, which was won by Brant Peaper. Akshay Bhatia, Hayden Springer, Garrett Osborn, Stewart Jolly, Peyton White, Charles Huntzinger and Evan Grenus joined Peaper in the playoff. Cody Blick, Tain Lee and former NCAA champion Broc Everett will join Peaper in the field. Lee has qualified for three TOUR events this year. The Palmetto Championship will be the second PGA TOUR start of Blick’s career. He made 10 birdies Sunday en route to shooting 7-under 65 at Belfair in Bluffton, South Carolina. He finished in the top 15 of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada’s Order of Merit (now known as the Forme Tour) in both 2017 and 2018. Following his success in the Great White North, he famously shot 63 in the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School after getting his clubs stolen hours before teeing off. Blick was sidelined with a back injury 10 starts into the 2019 KFT season, however. He failed to keep his Korn Ferry card after missing the cut in all six of his medical starts in 2020. QUALIFIERS Cody Blick Age: 27 College: San Jose State Turned pro: 2016 PGA TOUR starts: 1 Cuts made: 1 PGA TOUR earnings: $7,128 Twitter: @blick_golf Notes: The Palmetto Championship will mark Blick’s first start on the PGA TOUR since the 2017 Barracuda Championship (T61). Blick missed all six cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 while playing on a medical extension. He made two cuts on the PGA Latinoamérica Tour in 2020, finishing T52 at The Championship at Echelon Golf Club and 52nd at the Classic at The Club at Weston Hills. Tain Lee Age: 31 College: Claremont McKenna College Turned pro: 2011 PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts made: 2 PGA TOUR earnings: $32,315 Notes: The Palmetto Championship will be Lee’s third career PGA TOUR start (all in 2021). He finished 69th at the Farmers Insurance Open and 59th at the Valero Texas Open after Monday qualifying for both. … Lee won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2010 as the top player in NCAA Division III. Broc Everett Age: 26 College: Augusta Turned pro: 2018 PGA TOUR starts: 3 Cuts made: 0 Twitter: @Brocandroll10 Notes: Everett has made three starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, making one cut (T54 at Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna). Most recent PGA TOUR starts came in 2019 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Wells Fargo Championship. Everett won the 2018 NCAA individual title. Future PGA TOUR players Doug Ghim (3rd), Scottie Scheffler (6th) and Matthew Wolff (T7) finished in the top 10 that week. Everett played baseball, basketball track and golf in high school, and was member of several choral groups. Brant Peaper Age: 26 College: Indiana Turned pro: 2013 PGA TOUR starts: 0 Twitter: @peapshow25 Notes: This will be Peaper’s PGA TOUR debut. He played three events on the Korn Ferry Tour between 2016 and 2018 and made the cut in six of 30 Forme Tour starts between 2014 and 2019. Was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2013, including a win at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate. NOTES Notable who missed qualifying: Hayden Springer, Akshay Bhatia, John Augenstein, M.J. Daffue (AT&T Byron Nelson Monday Qualifier), J.J. Killeen. 2020-2021 Monday Qualifier Statistics Last event’s qualifier results: AT&T Byron Nelson, M.J. Daffue (MC), John Lyras (MC), Dylan Meyer (T68), Tom Lovelady (MC) Total money earned by Monday qualifiers on TOUR this season: $651,473 Best Finish: M.J. Daffue (T12, Sanderson Farms Championship) Next Monday Qualifier: Travelers Championship at Ellington Ridge Country Club (Monday June 21, 2021)

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FORT WORTH, Texas — The quiet of Colonial made Xander Schauffele feel as though he were back home in San Diego playing with his friends. In this case, his buddies happen to be some of the biggest stars in golf. Schauffele made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to break out of a six-way share of the lead with a 4-under 66, giving him one-shot lead over an all-star cast going into a final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. RELATED: Leaderboard | ‘Who’s who’ leaderboard heading into weekend at Colonial Jordan Spieth took only 10 putts on the front nine and had the lead until he didn’t hit the 15th green from 81 yards away, leading to bogey. He had a 68 and was in a chasing pack that featured Justin Thomas, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Collin Morikawa and Branden Grace. The PGA TOUR returned after three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it didn’t take long to show its fan base just what it was missing. Fourteen players were separated by three shots, including Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Patrick Reed, who made the cut with one shot to spare and shot 63 to give him a chance. Golf fans should be in for a treat — in front of the TV, anyway. Colonial is the first of five tournaments in the return to golf that doesn’t allow spectators. Players have had three days to adjust to the lack of sound. Sunday is different, everyone trying to generate their own momentum without the energy typically delivered from outside the ropes. Schauffele was at 13-under 197. Woodland birdied his last two holes for a 66 and will play with his Presidents Cup teammate in the final group. Right behind will be Thomas, the former PGA champion and world No. 1, who went 11 holes without making a birdie in good scoring condition until two over the final five holes in a 66 that put him right in the mix. He played alongside Grace, who also had a 66. Spieth passed a big test. Stuck in a slump, he had five tournaments last season when he started with two rounds in the 60s and was left behind when he couldn’t break par on Saturday. There were a few anxious moments for him, such as an iron off the fifth tee that would have finished on the practice range if not for a fence in place for the tournament. He got up-and-down from short of the green to escape with birdie. His next tee shot was right and banged off a cart — one the loudest sounds of the day — leaving him blocked by a tree. He punched it low into a back bunker and saved par. But he didn’t make a birdie over the final nine holes, and the 15th cost him when his lob wedge came up short. No matter. He was one off the lead, and his tie for second is his best 54-hole position since the Colonial last year. He shot 72 in the final round and tied for eighth. Harold Varner III, still looking for his first PGA TOUR victory, started with a one-shot lead and birdied the opening hole. That was his last birdie. Varner couldn’t get putts to fall, including two birdie chances inside 8 feet toward the end. He had to settle for a 70, but was still only two shots behind. Looking up at Schauffele is not the issue. It’s looking around at everyone else. McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, were among the players who went into Sunday with a realistic chance. The field was the strongest Colonial has seen, not surprising because so many players stuck at home for the last three months were eager for competition. And this week has made clear that so many of them came to play.

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