Scottie Scheffler’s lead shrinks at Masters Tournament

Uihlein, Otaegui share the lead in France

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Here are nine tidbits from Saturday’s matches at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Austin Country Club plays 7,108 yards (par 71). We’ll start with the Sweet 16 and move forward. Perfection Pools It’s safe to say that NOBODY had a perfect bracket at the conclusion of pool play. Of the 16 predicted group winners by gamers, only FIVE hit. Of the 16 seeded pool favorites, based on OWGR, only FIVE advanced. Woof. Brackets Busted: Sweet 16 Of the five seeded winners advancing to the round of 16, exactly two of them made it to the quarterfinal round. The biggest fish to be fried in the morning session was local favorite Sergio Garcia (7). After washing out Xander Schauffele 3 & 1 to complete pool play with a perfect record, he crashed out to Kyle Stanley (45), 3 & 1. I didn’t see anything from Garcia that would chase me away in the coming weeks or months but I did notice the different color tape jobs his wrist each round. … Tyrrell Hatton (12) was six-under-par and lost to Cameron Smith (46) 2 & 1. This is a perfect example of why match play is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. Oh, and it’s almost impossible to project because this can happen in any and every match. … Matt Kuchar (16) wasn’t looking ahead to the round of 16 in pool play. If he was, he noticed early that he wouldn’t have to face Dustin Johnson in round 2. It wasn’t any easier with Kevin Kisner (32) as Kuchar’s six birdies weren’t enough to advance. Savage. Brackets Busted: Quarterfinal Edition Interestingly enough, the quarterfinal matches went according to seed, minus Kiradech Aphibarnrat (28) and Bubba Watson (35). The Thai knocked off annual upset specialist Charles Howell III (59) in the morning but ran out of magic against the two-time Masters champ. His perfect 4-0 week came to a crashing end as Watson rattled off four birdies in a row to open the back nine, winning eventually 5 & 3. The Final Four Watson hasn’t lost this week either as he stormed into the final four 4-0-1. Joining him will be the seeded favorite Justin Thomas (2), Alex Noren (13) and Kevin Kisner (32). Watson is the highest seeded player left but even if he wins, he won’t be the biggest underdog to lift the trophy. That honor belongs to Kevin Sutherland who was seeded No. 62 in the 2002 edition. … Kisner, like Watson, also enters the last four with a record of 4-0-1, has drawn Alex Noren, who similar to Thomas, is 5-0-0 on the week. The last three winners of this “new” format, Rory McIlroy (1), Jason Day (2) and Dustin Johnson (1) have all come from Tier 1 (top 16 seeds from the OWGR). Crystal Ball Thomas and Watson will kick off the final four and both are in flying form. Watson, who has notoriously struggled in this format, has changed his mind set to make birdies and the heck with the rest. Since his drought ended with a title at the Genesis Open, Watson won’t be chasing that angle and will be able to focus on just playing. …Thomas limped into the week after wisdom teeth surgery and has proceeded to blow the doors off every opponent he’s faced. He’s trailed for four holes all week but he’ll be the one dealing with the pressure in this match. With a win in the semifinals he knows he would go to No. 1 in the OWGR. Only 21 players before him have had that honor. I’m excited to see how he handles THAT pressure. Watson steals it. … Noren and Kisner make up the other side of the bracket. Noren is looking to join Sutherland, Shane Lowry and Russell Knox as making their first TOUR win a WGC event. He was knocked out in the quarterfinals last year and now has cleared that hurdle. … Kisner reaching the final four is a site for sore eyes in the gaming world. Many jumped on board after his career year in 2017 but it hasn’t gone according to plan in the new season. His only top 10 in eight events so far has been T4 at The RSM Classic in November. He’ll cash for more than that tomorrow regardless. Kisner needed eight birdies to beat Kuchar. He then thrashed Ian Poulter 8 & 6. He’ll need all of that AGAIN to beat Noren. Chalk final. Final Group: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship Brice Garnett, two-time winner on the Web.com Tour from 2017, is looking to go wire-to-wire for his first TOUR win. He sits on 16-under-par 200 and has a two-shot lead over Corey Conners and four shot lead over third place. Conners, who has played on four different circuits over the last four years, has never won on any professional level and will look to break his duck Sunday. The top 10 this week will be eligible for the Houston Open on Thursday next. Moving Day Monday qualifier Tyler McCumber is looking to keep his momentum of the week moving in the right direction. The son of Mark McCumber is just four back after tying Conners and Harris English for the low round of the day (67) in windy conditions. This is his TOUR debut but he’s won three times on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … While the above are looking for their first victory at this highest level, Harris English is looking to add to his collection. His 67 moved him up 30 spots to T8.Thanks to two late bogeys by Garnett he’ll begin Sunday seven back instead of nine. English has won on paspalum grass before at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. … The last time this course hosted an event it was last May as a Web.com Tour event. Nate Lashley shot 20-under to win and those gamers backing him this week were happy to see him move up 15 places to T23. Moving Day: Wrong Way After qualifying on Monday at Valspar and cashing T8, the big-hitting Trey Mullinax was on the radar this week. He didn’t disappoint through two rounds and entered Saturday T6. After 76 of them on Saturday he dropped 22 spots to T28. … David Lingmerth’s 67 on Friday pushed him into the top 15 but his 75 in Round 3 saw him drop off to T36. Study Hall Kisner’s undressing of Ian Poulter 8 & 6 to reach the semifinals was the biggest margin of victory since Ben Crane beat Rory McIlroy 8 & 7 in the second round in 2011. Read that again slowly. … Watson is the only player remaining that has a WGC victory (2015 HSBC). … English and McCumber had the only two bogey-free rounds at Corales. … Corales played a shot harder and over-par on Saturday as the wind provided a stout defense.

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The deepest field in golf will be challenged by the longest track in major championship history this week at The Ocean Course at Kiawah to decide the 103rd PGA Championship. Kiawah Island, South Carolina, will host 99 of the top 100 players in the world and they will be challenged by arguably Pete and Alice Dye’s toughest test. Stretching to 7,876 yards (Par-72), the Ocean Course at Kiawah overtakes Erin Hills as the longest major championship set-up in history. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks The PGA Championship was hosted here in 2012 and became the first major championship contested on Seashore Paspalum grass from tee thru green. The putting surfaces average 6,000 square feet and will run at tournament speed and there are 28 acres of fairway to swing at off the tee. Conversely there are 30 acres of sandy areas running along, behind and in front of most holes. The rough is Bermuda but will be over-seeded with ryegrass (up to three inches) to thicken and green it up. The 2021 edition will play 200 yards longer and in the month of May, not August like 2012. Springtime in the Carolinas will bring cooler temperatures and more consistent breezes to add to this already difficult Dye challenge. When the wind blows, the fairways and greens will shrink so controlling the golf ball in the breeze is required. While there will be spectators, there won’t be any grandstands to obstruct views or knock down errant shots. Closely mown areas around the sandy areas greenside will provide more decisions to be made to get it close. Getting up and down to grind out pars will be paramount. For more on the course design and history read THIS from our Sean Martin. As with any major championship examination mental toughness will also factor this week. While not many races have been run on Kiawah Island, there are many Pete Dye examples to examine, especially Whistling Straits, host of three previous PGA Championships. Those who have embraced the Dye designs and have found past successes on these layouts will feel they have a leg up on the rest of the field. The field of 156 players was completed with KH Lee after his win last week at AT&T Byron Nelson. Also, 20 PGA Professionals are entered this week along with any former champions. The purse for the event in 2020 was $11 million with $1.98 million plus 600 FedExCup points and a five year exemption on TOUR to the winner. Recent Event Winners Stats Recent Winners and Notables Recent Winner and Notables 2012: Rory McIlroy (-13, 275) Fired a bogey-free 66 to win his second major championship. … Set the PGA Championship record for margin of victory as he won by eight shots. … Only needed 24 putts in the final round. … Carded 67 in Round 3 to lead by three after 54 holes. … Signed for 75 in Round 2, three shots better than the average that day, to sit two back after 36 holes (-2). … Opened with 67, one of four players one off the lead. … One of three players to card less than 10 total bogeys. … Second major win and second by eight shots. … First top 10 in a major since his 2011 U.S. Open triumph. … Hits the podium for the third time in four starts (Win-T40-T3-T3) at the PGA Championship. … 2012 majors finishes: T40 (Masters), MC (US Open defense) and T60 (Royal Lytham & St Annes). … Played the week before (T5) WGC-FESJC (WGC-Bridgestone at the time), his seventh top five of the season. … Won Honda in March. Notables Entered This Week: Defending champion Keegan Bradley (T3) was playing in just his second PGA Championship. … Ian Poulter (T3) picked up his best PGA Championship check to this day. … Justin Rose (T3) led the field in GIR and was T2 Birdies (18). … Steve Stricker (T7) was one of nine players who played both weekend rounds in the red. … Adam Scott (T11) ranked T2 Putting. … Bubba Watson (T11) made nothing but was T8 GIR. … Louis Oosthuizen (T21) also circled 18 birdies (T2). … McIlroy and Rose both posted 66 on Sunday, one off the best round of the week. … Perfect weather in Round 1 saw 44 players break par. … Round 2 scoring average was 78.1 and only four golfers broke par (49-year old Vijay Singh 69, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter, 71). … Cut was +6 and only 10 players were under par after 36 holes. … Round 3 had eight rounds in the 60s as a thunderstorm halted play in the afternoon. … Round 4 had 18 rounds in the 60s. … 74.6 scoring average for the week. Of 72 players making the cut, 24 hit 71 percent or better Fairways. … Rose was one of only seven players to hit 50 or more GIR. … There were only six Americans in the top 17. … Others playing in 2021: T18 John Daly (1991 winner) T18 Padraig Harrington (2007, 2008 winner) T21 Jimmy Walker (2016 winner) T27 Jason Dufner (2013 winner, 2011 runner up) T27 Marc Leishman T36 Rich Beem (2002 winner) T36 Phil Mickelson (2005 winner) T36 Vijay Singh (1998, 2004 winner) T36 YE Yang (2009 winner) T42 Martin Laird (led the field in Total Driving) T42 Gary Woodland T48 Dustin Johnson T54 Francesco Molinari T59 Charl Schwartzel T62 Chez Reavie T66 Alex Noren 70 Zach Johnson 72 Cameron Tringale Missed Cut: George Coetzee Sergio Garcia Webb Simpson Bernd Wiesberger Stewart Cink Jason Day Lee Westwood Branden Grace Rickie Fowler Matt Kuchar Shaun Micheel (2003 winner) Charley Hoffman Ryan Palmer Martin Kaymer (2010 winner) Paul Case Kevin Na (DQ) Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses

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