‘Excited’ Stricker tied for lead at Champions event

Golf’s oldest championship ventures outside Scotland and England for just the second time in its 160-year history, returning to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland as Francesco Molinari defends the Claret Jug he captured in masterful fashion last year at Carnoustie. Rory McIlroy, the 2014 champion at Hoylake and twice a winner this year (THE PLAYERS Championship, RBC Canadian Open), realizes a dream of playing on native soil along with countrymen Graeme McDowell and 2011 champion Darren Clarke. Meantime, Brooks Koepka seeks a second 2019 major to add to his victory at the PGA Championship after finishing second at the Masters and U.S. Open. FIELD NOTES: Newly crowned U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland and Masters winner Tiger Woods also headline the field for what’s now the final major of the year under the revamped golf calendar. … FedExCup points leader Matt Kuchar heads a list featuring 47 of the top 50 in the latest points standings. … In the world rankings, only No. 34 Kevin Na (neck) is missing among the top 85. … Slots remain for the John Deere Classic’s highest top-5 finisher yet to qualify, plus the Scottish Open’s three highest top-10 finishers still without berths. … John Daly, the 1995 Open winner at St. Andrews, will sit out this year after being denied a cart for his arthritic knee. He’ll tee it up in Kentucky instead at the Barbasol Championship. … Among the 12 survivors of local qualifying is amateur Brandon Wu, who helped Stanford to the NCAA team title last month. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. STORYLINES: The spotlight shines on Royal Portrush, a striking layout which hosted the 1951 Open but waited 68 years for another chance. Built on heaving linksland overlooking the Irish Sea, the course is widely ranked among the world’s top dozen layouts. … Koepka looks to extend his run of excellence in majors, where he hasn’t been outside the top two since last year’s Open at Carnoustie. He also has a valuable asset in caddie Ricky Elliott, who grew up a half-mile from Royal Portrush and learned the game there. … Though McIlroy has THE PLAYERS Championship and RBC Canadian Open trophies on his shelf this year, neither would compare to winning the Claret Jug in his native Northern Ireland. He already holds the course record with a 61 – posted at age 16. … It’s even more of a home game for Clarke, who grew up an hour away and is a Royal Portrush member, and Portrush native McDowell. … Woods arrives without hitting a competitive shot since the U.S. Open. It’s the second time this year he’s gone from one major to the next without a tuneup stop in between – he missed the PGA Championship cut at Bethpage Black … Molinari’s victory last year made it nine of the Open’s past 12 champions to be crowned at age 35 or older. COURSE: Royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce), 7,317 yards, par 72. The only Open venue outside Scotland and England gets its second bite of the apple, albeit with a slightly altered configuration to accommodate a modern major. Two holes from the club’s adjacent Valley course have been melded into the front nine, with the original 17th and 18th holes taken out to house corporate chalets. The rest of the layout is largely untouched from Harry Colt’s brilliant 1932 design that takes full advantage of dramatic elevation changes. The famed “Calamity Corner� – an uphill par-3 measuring 230 yards – will play as No. 16 for the Open. Royal Portrush dates back to 1888, with Old Tom Morris being credited with the original layout. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Henrik Stenson (2016 at Royal Troon). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Branden Grace (3rd round, 2017 at Royal Birkdale). LAST YEAR: Molinari rose from a crowded pack – including the revitalized Woods – to give Italy its first major champion, navigating the dastardly Carnoustie without a bogey on the final day to triumph by two. Seven players held at least a share of the lead during the final round, and six were tied for the top spot at one point on the back nine. That included Woods, who surged to the front until a double bogey at No.11. That opened the door for the chase pack – including the patient Molinari, who opened with 13 pars until a birdie at No. 14. Three more pars ensued until a bold play at No. 18, when his drive flirted with a pot bunker but set up a wedge to 5 feet for the clinching birdie and a 2-under-par 69. He was the only man in the final four groups to break par. McIlroy (70), Justin Rose (69), Xander Schauffele (74) and Kevin Kisner (74) shared second, with Schauffele’s bogey at No. 17 effectively ending the final threat. Woods (71) tied for sixth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 4:30-7 a.m. (GC); 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 4:30-7 a.m. (GC); 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 2 a.m.-4 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 4 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (SiriusXM).

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy says tests indicate no new injury to his back, only what he described as a “low-grade response” to his rib injury in January. McIlroy had an MRI upon returning to Northern Ireland because of mild pain he felt during THE PLAYERS Championship. He said in a statement Monday that he is entered in the BMW PGA Championship next week at Wentworth and will decide early next week if he can play. The four-time major champion had a hairline rib fracture in January and missed seven weeks. McIlroy played four times in six weeks through the Masters before taking a three-week break to get married. He says he might have aggravated the injury by practicing three days in a row to get ready for THE PLAYERS.

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