2017 Travelers Championship, Round 3: Leaderboard, tee times, TV schedule

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - Rafa Cabrera Bello shot even par and shot up the leaderboard. Bubba Watson double-bogeyed the last hole but his 69 was one of the best rounds of the day. Thomas Pieters took the lead at 6 under par before giving it all back with six bogeys. "Clearly," said Cabrera Bello, "the wind has picked up significantly." And that, he added, was making the already narrow fairways even smaller, and the already tricky greens trickier. The headlines after the first round of the 120th U.S. Open were all about the flood of red numbers, with more scores of 66 or better (four) than Winged Foot had given up in all five previous U.S. Opens combined. But it was apparent early that the course had something different in store on a cool, blustery Friday. Not only did the wind pick up, it also changed directions. The first three holes, which had played downwind Thursday, played straight into the wind Friday. All of which added to the fun, as first-round leader Justin Thomas might call it. (Thomas was just starting his round at 1:27 p.m.) "Yeah, this morning was actually okay," said Belgium's Pieters, who shot 2 under on the front nine before sliding back down the board with six back-nine bogeys. "It wasn’t that windy. Drove it well, so I gave myself a lot of opportunities. "Yeah, back nine the wind got up," he added, "and yeah, I don’t know, my scorecard says it all." At least he had company. Matthew Wolff was 3 under par and two off the lead when he made the turn, but bogeyed four of the first five holes on the front. The most annoying of these came at the par-3 third, where his long birdie try went up a slope, stopped woefully short, trundled slowly backward, and stopped closer to his feet than the hole. He made bogey. Course set-up had something to do with the players' frustrations, too. Although the USGA was said to be making things slightly easier in an effort to get all 144 players around in roughly two hours less daylight of a mid-September U.S. Open, there would be no such generosity in round two. The hole location at the first was three paces from the left, at the second it was just four paces from the right, and so on, encouraging short-side misses, of which there were many. "I also felt the greens have got maybe a smidge quicker and a bit firmer," said Cabrera Bello, who made five birdies and five bogeys. "But I also felt like some of the pins were a little bit tougher, harder to access today. Obviously more of a U.S. Open setup you would expect." Shane Lowry, who rebounded from an opening 76 to shoot even-par 70, was hoping to make the cut after fighting the course to a draw. "I played lovely today," he said. Lee Westwood, who had opened with a 67, faded with a 76 to go into the weekend at 3 over. He was disappointed with his finish, dropping four shots over his last three holes, but wasn't giving up or getting down on himself. "So a bit disappointed to finish like that," he said, "but 3 over par here for the week, and you never know what’s going to happen in U.S. Opens, do you?" Not with the course toughening up seemingly by the minute. Said Xander Schauffele, whose 2-over 72 moved him to even par, "It'll be a fun afternoon to watch on TV."

Click here to read the full article…

Thomas (63) sets U.S. Open mark, but 1 back

Click here to read the full article…

Brooks Koepka looks to get his 2019-20 season back on track at TPC Southwind, where he’ll defend his title at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational title. FedExCup leader Justin Thomas and newly-minted world No. 1 Jon Rahm also headline the field. This is Rahm’s first start since his victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. FIELD NOTES: With 550 FedExCup points available to the winner, there are three players who could supplant Thomas atop the standings: Webb Simpson, who was runner-up at TPC Southwind last year, Sungjae Im and Bryson DeChambeau. The top nine players in the FedExCup are in the field… The entire top eight in the Official World Golf Ranking will be in the field… In all, 45 of the top 50 players in the OWGR will tee it up at TPC Southwind – the most of any event during the 2019-20 TOUR season… Seventy-eight players from 19 countries will tee it up in Memphis… Henrik Stenson will make his first start since the TOUR’s Return to Golf in June… Puerto Rico Open winner Viktor Hovland is set to make his first career start at a WGC. FEDEXCUP: Winner gets 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Southwind, 7,238 yards, par 70. After 30 years as the host club of the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the Ron Prichard layout – southeast of Memphis – was elevated to a WGC host. Loren Roberts came on board in 2004 for the most recent upgrade. STORYLINES: Daniel Berger looks to continue his good vibes at TPC Southwind. He won back-to-back titles at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2016 and 2017 and returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since in the first event of the TOUR’s Return to Golf, the Charles Schwab Challenge… Collin Morikawa, who won last year’s Barracuda Championship played opposite the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is now a two-time TOUR winner after recently beating Thomas in a playoff at the Workday Charity Open… Dustin Johnson returns to action after withdrawing from the 3M Open. Johnson, like Berger, is a two-time winner at TPC Southwind and a six-time WGC winner. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Brooks Koepka (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Jon Rahm (2019, first round), Rory McIlroy (2019, third round) LAST TIME: Koepka won his first World Golf Championship by three shots over Simpson. It was Koepka’s third win of the season. In the process he became the PGA TOUR Regular Season leader in FedExCup points and also clinched top spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. He also became just the sixth player to win a major championship and a World Golf Championship in the same year. March Leishman finished third while Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Rory McIlroy finished T4, five shots back of Koepka’s winning total. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 12 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…