How to watch WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Day 4: PGA TOUR LIVE, ESPN+, live scores, tee times, TV times

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Viktor Hovland won again on the PGA TOUR, this time without a clutch finish. The Norwegian star was too dominant to give anyone else a chance Sunday in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Hovland seized control with three birdies on the front nine, and never let Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas or anyone else get closer than three shots the rest of the way. He closed with a 4-under 67 for a four-shot lead over Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, making him the first repeat winner since Mayakoba began in 2007. Hovland won last year with a birdie putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory. He also made birdie on his last hole when he won the Puerto Rico Open in the spring of 2020. There was no need for that this time. For the final two hours, everyone was playing for second. “I wish I could putt like I did today more often,” said Hovland, who made 28 birdies for the week at El Camaleon. “It was just a blast all week.” Hovland finished at 23-under 261 and moved to No. 4 in the FedExCup standings and No. 10 in the world ranking. Ortiz made a 30-foot par putt after a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th for a 66 to finish alone in second, a difference of $144,000 if he had two-putted for bogey and tied with Thomas, who also saved for on 18 for a 69. Thomas had an early bogey and didn’t make as many birdies to make up a three-shot deficit on Hovland, especially the way Hovland was putting. “I just didn’t drive it well, didn’t get off to a good enough start to really put any pressure on Viktor,” Thomas said. The strongest challenge came from Scheffler, who starred on the final day in the Ryder Cup and is hopeful his first PGA TOUR victory is around the corner. Sunday wasn’t the day. Scheffler missed a pair of short-range birdie putts only to ram in an 18-foot birdie on the 12th to get to within three shots. Hovland answered with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 9, and the lead was back to four shots. Scheffler’s chip just right of the 13th green hit the pin and bounced about 5 feet away, which he made for eagle. Hovland made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 11th moments later. Scheffler blinked first. His tee shot on the 14th peeled to the right into the mangroves. After a penalty drop, he did well to get it up near the green, only to pitch over the back on to the collar and make double bogey. Scheffler shot 66 and finished alone in fourth. “Viktor’s playing some good golf so he’s obviously going to be tough to catch,” Scheffler said. “I had to make a few more birdies towards the end and wasn’t able to do that.” Matthew Wolff, the 36-hole leader who fell out of the mix with a 74 in the third round, bounced back with a 65 on Sunday to tie for fifth with Joaquin Niemann (66). Hovland is the fifth consecutive foreign-born winner on the PGA TOUR, a streak that began with Sungjae Im of South Korea winning in Las Vegas. He was followed by Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Lucas Herbert of Australia.

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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – It’s easy to blame the belly putter. Keegan Bradley used that club to win three times in his first two seasons, including a major and World Golf Championship. Then his promising career took a downturn, just as the debate about anchoring was beginning to heat up. He was finally barred from using his beloved belly putter on Jan. 1, 2016. The ban became official in the midst of his worst season. By that summer, he was worried about missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time. The putter wasn’t the only problem, though. His full swing was in disarray, as well. Ball-striking, especially long and straight tee shots, had always been his strength. It allowed him to conquer tough tracks like Firestone and Atlanta Athletic Club. So, when his swing left him, doubt crept in. “I had missed over 10 cuts. I was in jeopardy of not making the Playoffs. I was really struggling,â€� he said. He finished outside the top 100 in the FedExCup for the first time in 2016. “I wasn’t really aware of how far off I was. I had to really get serious and put a lot of work in.â€� Bradley’s strong will allowed him to make the PGA TOUR despite growing up in the cold weather of Vermont and playing college golf at a school, St. John’s, located in the midst of New York City. He used that same determination to fight out of this lengthy slump. His victory at the BMW Championship on Monday, where he beat Justin Rose in a playoff, was his first in more than six years. He jumped to sixth in the FedExCup standings to qualify for the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2013. “A lot has happened to me over these six years,â€� he said. “The belly putter was a tougher transition than I thought, and I kind of fell off the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to outside the top 100 in the world. That was difficult. I had to really sit down with my coach Darren May, and we put a schedule together.â€� Bradley figured out his full swing about eight months ago. That allowed him to focus on the putter. He finally settled on the arm-lock method used by Matt Kuchar and another player impacted by the anchoring ban, Webb Simpson. Watching Simpson hole puts from across TPC Sawgrass at this year’s THE PLAYERS Championship strengthened Bradley’s belief in his new putting method. Like Bradley, Simpson had won a major with the belly putter but struggled after that club was made illegal. THE PLAYERS was Simpson’s first win in more than four years. “When I used the belly, I just putted,â€� Bradley said. “There was no thought process. And I had to really sit down and focus in on my putting stroke, which was something I had never done.â€� Bradley is still near the bottom of the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting but has enough good weeks on the greens to contend. His runner-up finish in his second event of this season, the CIMB Classic, was his best since 2014. In July, he finished fourth at the RBC Canadian Open with the sixth-best Strokes Gained: Putting performance of his career. His strong long game – he’s second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and sixth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green – takes pressure off his putting. He can still have a solid week with mediocre putting and contend when he gets hot on the greens. That’s what happened at Aronimink. Bradley finished sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting this week. It was the third-best Strokes Gained: Putting week of his career. He holed 11 putts outside 10 feet this week, one short of his career-high. Bradley almost didn’t have the opportunity to win this event. Constant rain forced the final round to be pushed back a day. But, with one eye on the FedExCup standings, Bradley sank 7-footers for par on Saturday’s final two holes to grab the 30th spot in the projected standings. Those crucial makes increased his confidence entering the final round. On Monday, he sank five putts outside 10 feet, including birdie putts of 17 feet and 10 feet on the back nine’s two par-3s. “It’s scary when I look back because I didn’t know I needed this much improvement,â€� Bradley said. “But to put it all together, especially with the putter the way it was this week and the way it’s becoming, is so gratifying, because for a little while, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back to this spot, and today I did it.â€�

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