Who surges, who struggles and who wins on Sunday at the U.S. Open

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HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The yellow shirt Webb Simpson wore on Sunday at the RBC Heritage wasn’t a casual fashion choice. He didn’t take it out of his closet because it would look good with that red tartan jacket that goes to the winner of the tournament, either. Of course, turns out that it did. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Simpson used to win No, Simpson wears yellow on Sundays because it was his late father Sam’s favorite color. And in an unusual quirk of scheduling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Heritage, once canceled and later postponed, was concluding on Father’s Day. “This morning I thought about him, and when I was on the golf course, I thought about him,” Simpson would later say. “… So still feeling my dad all around me from memories. He loved golf. “He would have loved watching today.” Indeed. Sam’s son took control of the RBC Heritage on the back nine, making birdies on five of his last seven holes for a 64 to earn the seventh victory of his PGA TOUR career. With the win, Simpson climbed to the top of the FedExCup standings as well as to No. 5 in the world. Of course, the U.S. Open, which was postponed until September, usually is the tournament that ends on Father’s Day. So, this actually marks the second time Simpson has celebrated victory on that holiday – and Sam was still alive when his boy won the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club. “I’ll never forget calling my dad after on the way to the press conference, and when he picked up the phone, he just was laughing,” Simpson said. “That’s kind of what he did when he was happy, he would just laugh. So, I’m going to miss that laugh today for sure.” For Simpson, who lost his dad jn 2017, the ascent is part and parcel of the hard work he’s put in over the last three years after finding himself on the outside looking in when everyone else was playing in the TOUR Championship and making Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams like he used to do. “I really have a desire to be in that top 10 or 15 guys in the world ranking all the time and have chances to win, not just twice a year, but as many times as I can,” Simpson said. “So that led me to just look at every part of my game, whether it’s working out or the mental approach, and see if I can get better. “That was three years ago probably. So, yeah … it feels great to see the hard work pay off and see that the process I’ve put in place is working. But we’re nuts. We always think we can get better, and I think there’s room to grow.” Sunday’s final round was a roller coaster of emotions that featured as many as seven players tied for the lead. Turning up the heat, too, on this steamy afternoon was a different kind of race – this one to finish before darkness after a weather delay of two hours and 35 minutes. Simpson, who also won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2018 on Mother’s Day, had held at least a share of the second- and third-round leads. But he had to come from behind over the final nine holes, chasing Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Neimann, among others to seal the win. “Honestly, the last kind of 10 holes were a blur because guys are making birdies, we’re trying to finish before night comes,” Simpson said. “And so, to finish with five birdies like that was really special, especially after going kind of yesterday and the first 10 holes, 11 holes today not making putts. “To see the putts go in when I needed them, that was really fun to see the ball going in the hole.” The feverish competition worked in Simpson’s favor, too. As he saw birdies being posted, he knew he had to be a little more aggressive after giving up ground on the front nine. He played the final nine holes with authority and confidence, and was rewarded at the end. “It’s typically not a golf course where you can force it, but today after the storm, it softened things out, not much wind, we could go attacking,” Simpson said. “Guys kept making birdies. I was blown away with the scores, but there I hit my run, 12 through 17, and ultimately that’s what made the difference.” And Simpson, who has five kids of his own, now has a new celebration for Father’s Day.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Rose was happy enough to still have the lead Friday at the Masters Tournament, even if only by a fraction on a day when Augusta National was more forgiving and he had to rally just to shoot par. RELATED: Leaderboard | Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy among big names to miss Masters weekend The two players right behind had reason to be thrilled just to be at the Masters. One of them was Brian Harman, barely inside the top 100 in the world a month ago until two good weeks changed his fortunes. The other was 24-year-old Will Zalatoris, who recently was playing on the Korn Ferry Tour and doesn’t have a full PGA TOUR card. “I wanted to be here my entire life,” Zalatoris said after birdies on his last three holes for a 4-under 68. “Some people shy away from that, but I’m excited to be here. There’s no reason to feel intimidated now. I made it to here. And obviously, the job is not done by any means.” The job is over for defending champion Dustin Johnson, who bogeyed three of his last four holes for a 75 to miss the cut by two shots. For everyone else, it’s just getting started. Ten players were within three shots of Rose, who had a 72 and was at 7-under 137. That group included former Masters champion Jordan Spieth, who is coming off a victory last week in the Valero Texas Open and is starting to look like the Spieth of old, even at age 27. “Having made a triple and five over-par holes through two rounds, I feel pretty good about being at 5 under,” Spieth said after a 68. The group three shots behind included Si Woo Kim, who played the final four holes without a putter that he broke out of frustration. After a three-putt bogey on the 14th and a chip that nearly ran off the green at the 15th, he jammed the head of the club into the turf and damaged it. Kim used a fairway metal to close with four pars and a 69. Asked if he had a backup putter, Kim replied, “No. I don’t want to answer anymore. Sorry.” Rose was staked to a four-shot lead at the start of a warm, overcast day and it was gone after seven holes. He didn’t drop a shot the rest of the way, picked up three birdies on the back nine and salvaged the day. “Just a classic day at Augusta National when you’re slightly off,” Rose said. “I kind of told myself going up the eighth hole, `You’re leading the Masters.’ Your frame of reference is a little bit different to yesterday. Four ahead is something, but you’re still leading. So just enjoy it and keep it going.” The course played to an average score of 72.2, compared with 74.5 for the opening round. There were 35 rounds under par compared with 12 on the first day. Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and Tony Finau each had 66 to get within three shots. Marc Leishman had a 67 and joined Spieth just two shots behind. Justin Thomas missed a short par putt on the final hole and shot 67. He also was three shots behind. The wild card in all this is Zalatoris, built like a 1-iron and already renowned for his ball striking. His late run began with a 9-iron to a back right pin on the par-3 16th to 10 feet and ended with a wedge from 138 yards on the 18th to 5 feet that put him in the final group on the weekend at Augusta. Born in San Francisco, he grew up in Dallas and played some of his best when golf was shut down during the pandemic. Zalatoris was on the Korn Ferry Tour, and when golf resumed, he had five straight finishes in the top six, including his first victory. That got him into the U.S. Open, where he tied for sixth. Now he has temporary PGA TOUR membership and is among the top 50 in the world, getting him into the Masters. That’s why he talks of an “attitude of gratitude.” Zalatoris also is a quick study with a long memory. He grew up with the kids of former PGA champion Lanny Wadkins, and took in tales of Wadkins and his 23 times playing the Masters. One story Zalatoris heard when he was 14 years old came in handy on the par-3 12th hole. “He just said that whenever it’s into the wind … it just doesn’t really affect the ball as much,” Zalatoris said. “And when it’s downwind, that’s where guys tend to struggle.” The wind was about 10 mph into him and out of the left, 153 yards to the hole. He hit a shot that normally goes 152 yards and it carried 150. It helped that he made a 35-foot putt for birdie. Now he heads into the weekend at a major that is up for grabs for so many players, minus Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay, who all missed the cut. It has been 42 years since Fuzzy Zoeller became the most recent player to win the Masters on his first try. Right there with Zalatoris is another Dallas resident — Spieth, finding his form at a major where he has a victory, two runner-up finishes and third place in seven appearances. He thought he could win at Augusta even before he won last week in Texas. “I’m in position now to think that for sure,” Spieth said. “But at the halfway point, I would have been pleased with being two back.”

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