American Express: Woo Kim holds off Cantlay

Here are nine tidbits from the first round of THE NORTHERN TRUST gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey is hosting for the fourth time since 2008 and plays 7,385 yards to a Par-71. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected, plus one, golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. The first round leaders posted 66 (-5) for the highest opening round score in four events at Ridgewood Country Club. Not even soft conditions and lift-clean and replace after rain on Wednesday and into Thursday morning could help scoring. Tucked pin placements and bushy, thick rough also helped keep scores in check in Round 1. Rob Bolton suggests that the early-late draw would have a slight advantage. Unusual Suspects Part I All three leaders started their rounds ranked No. 85 or WORSE in the FedExCup Standings but after Round 1 they would stand third, fourth and fifth. Kevin Tway (No. 85) rattled off six birdies against one bogey to continue his solid vein of form. He’s cashed in 10 of his last 11 and closed 65-65 for T11 at Wyndham last week. … Jamie Lovemark (No. 86) cashed his last top 10 on his own ball at the Honda in late February. He bogeyed his last hole to shoot 66 in the first round for the second week running. It was his only bogey of the day. Unusual Suspects II Vaughn Taylor (No. 112) was the co-leader with Tiger Woods here in 2010 on 65 before finishing T5. Taylor had the most active scorecard of the leading troika has circled eight birdies against three bogeys. … Gamers have seen this old trick from Sean O’Hair before. He entered the 2016 FedExCup Playoffs at No. 108 and finished T2 behind Patrick Reed at another A.W. Tillinghast course, Bethpage Black. O’Hair’s last of two top-10 finishes was T2 at Valero in April. Don’t get too excited as none of these four players have won this season and Tway and Lovemark have never won on TOUR. People’s Choice The heaviest selections this week were named Justin but it’s the one that in the stars and stripes who was the most popular selection. The defending FedExCup champion appeared on almost half of the rosters this week and got off to a decent start but he’s one of TWENTY TWO players who signed for 68 (-2), good for T27. He played the Par-3 holes in two-under and the other 14 holes even. No Hangover The U.S. Open and PGA Champion isn’t showing any signs of his season being finished after opening with 67 (-4). An eagle and four birdies wiped out a pair of bogeys as Brooks Koepka checked in at No. 3 in Strokes-Gained: Off-the-Tee but it was his scrambling (5 of 6) that kept him just one back. No. 1 World No. 1 and FedExCup points leader Dustin Johnson played with Thomas and Koepka in the marquee pairing in the morning wave. The event defending champion ate a triple-bogey eight after a wayward tee shot on No. 17 to throw away a four-under start. He added three more birdies on the front to post 67 (-4). The triple was a double-whammy for Johnson as it came on a Par-5 hole that I would have guessed he would have birdied. That’s a four-shot swing and a three-shot lead but there’s not a category on the scorecard for “what-if”. Don’t Panic, Yet Geez. The other Justin, Justin Rose, opened with 72 (+1) and will need a decent round tomorrow to play the weekend. Yes, there is a cut! The top 70 and ties advance to the weekend and the top 79 players after Round 1 are even. … It was a tough day for Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup made men as Jon Rahm signed for 75 and was T108 from a field of 118. … Open Champion Francesco Molinari looked human as his ice-cold putter matched Rose on 72 and shares T80. Bubble Boys The top 100 will advance to the next round of the FedExCup Playoffs next week at the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. Here’s how the guys under the gun are performing: Study Hall Round 1 saw 59 players post red figures as the scoring average was 70.546 (-0.454). … Trey Mullinax and Rafa Cabrera-Bello posted the only bogey-free rounds. … Joining Taylor with eight birdies was Bronson Burgoon (T18). … Last week’s winner Brandt Snedeker missed the Pro-Am yesterday morning with back spasms. They didn’t subside and he was forced to WD before the start of play in Round 1. … Grayson Murray (No. 113) returned to action for the first time since June last week at Sedgefield and MC. He began this week No. 115 before WD and ending his season after Round 1.

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ERIN, Wis. – News and observations from Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open where Brooks Koepka shot a final-round 67 for a four-shot victory over Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman. For more of what unfolded at Erin Hills on Sunday, click here to read the Daily Wrap-up. KOEPKA SLAMS THE DOOR Brooks Koepka may be known for mashing drives like American League MVP Mike Trout, but it was his shortest club that separated him from the field on Sunday’s back nine. Koepka one-putted four consecutive holes to take a white-knuckled grip on the U.S. Open trophy. It started with a 9-foot par save at the par-3 13th that kept him tied for the lead. He then made birdie putts of 6 feet, 10 feet and 17 feet to reach 16 under and put the tournament out of reach. “That was kind of the meat of the tournament,â€� said Koepka’s instructor, Claude Harmon. Koepka parred the final two holes to tie the U.S. Open’s 72-hole scoring record (in relation to par). He finished four shots ahead of Hideki Matsuyama and 54-hole leader Brian Harman. The victory moved Koepka from 19th to fifth in the FedExCup standings. Koepka, who led the field in strokes gained: approach-to-the-green, finished third in both strokes gained: off-the-tee and strokes gained: putting. He started the final round one shot back of Harman but birdied the first two holes to take the lead. Koepka added another birdie with a 33-foot putt at the eighth hole. He lost his one-shot lead with a bogey at No. 10 and then parred the next two holes. Koepka missed his only green of the day at the par-3 13th and made what he called a “massiveâ€� par save. “The par save on 13, that built some confidence,â€� Koepka said. “That was kind of the changing point of the round for me.â€� Koepka got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for birdie at the par-5 14th, then hit his 150-yard approach shot at No. 15 to 10 feet. He called it one of his best shots of the week. The birdie at the par-3 17th ended any uncertainty about the tournament’s final result. “He birdied 14, 15, 16, and that was kind of lights out,â€� Harman said. “He went and won the golf tournament on the back nine.â€� ANOTHER BIG STAGE Koepka’s U.S. Open victory came with an added benefit. It likely clinched his first appearance in The Presidents Cup. Koepka jumped from ninth to fifth in the United States’ team standings. The top 10 on Sept. 4 will earn automatic selections for the team, which will compete against the International Team on Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at Liberty National. Koepka played his first Ryder Cup last year, going 3-1-0 in the United States’ victory at Hazeltine. He went 2-0 with Brandt Snedeker, winning a foursomes and four-ball match, then lost a four-ball match with Dustin Johnson. Koepka beat Masters champion Danny Willett, 5 and 4, in Sunday singles. Harman jumped from 13th to ninth in the standings after finishing T2 at Erin Hills. He’s never represented the United States in a professional competition, but he did play in the United States’ victories in the 2005 and 2009 Walker Cups. TWO PATHS TO T2 Hideki Matsuyama shot Sunday’s low round, while Harman couldn’t keep pace with Brooks Koepka’s late birdies. Matsuyama and Harman started Sunday separated by six shots, but ended the day tied for second at 12 under. Harman shot even-par 72 after starting the final round with a one-shot lead. He struggled from the tee, though, hitting just eight of 14 fairways. “I just wish I would have been able to put a little more pressure on the course. I didn’t drive it as well as I would’ve liked,â€� he said. It was his first top- 25 in eight majors. He’d missed the cut in five of his previous seven starts in golf’s Grand Slam events. His lack of prior success in these events provided little solace, though. “I don’t believe in moral victories. I had an opportunity today and I didn’t get it done,â€� said Harman, who beat Dustin Johnson to win the recent Wells Fargo Championship. Harman is No. 10 in the FedExCup. Matsuyma teed off more than an hour before the final group, and made birdie on five of his final eight holes to shoot 66 put pressure on the leaders. It was too little too late after starting the final round six shots off the lead, though. “I learned that I have to put four good rounds together,â€� said Matsuyama, who moved to No. 2 in the FedExCup. “I played two good rounds, but it wasn’t enough.â€� In addition to Sunday’s 66, he also fired a 65 in the second round. He was a combined 1 over in the other two rounds, firing a first-round 74 and a 71 on Saturday. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA ROOKIES BOOK RETURN TRIPS Xander Schauffele survived a sudden-death playoff just to earn a spot at Erin Hills. He made the most of the opportunity, finishing fifth in his first major championship. It not only matched the best finish of his PGA TOUR career, but earned him a return to this tournament. The top 10 finishers at Erin Hills earned exemptions into the 2018 U.S. Open. He broke par in three of four rounds to finish at 10-under 278 (66-73-70-69). That result catapulted him from No. 135 to No. 107 in the FedExCup. “I couldn’t be happier. I shot 3 under on my last seven holes,â€� Schauffele said. “There is no better way to finish a tournament than that.â€� The U.S. Open’s Father’s Day finish was special for Schauffele, whose father, Stefan, is his coach. Stefan Schauffele played semi-pro soccer and was a competitive decathlete in Germany who moved to San Diego at age 23 after being hit head-on by a drunk driver. The accident left him blind in his left eye and ended his athletic career. He took up golf and became a scratch golfer within two years. Schauffele wasn’t the only PGA TOUR rookie to finish in the top 10. Trey Mullinax finished ninth after making birdies on the final three holes to fire 68. His top-10 at the U.S. Open came one week after he finished T18 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He credited a motivational talk from his father, Chip, with helping him have two successful weeks. “(I was) just kind of in a bad spot, down in the dumps a little bit,â€� Mullinax said. “Me, my dad and coach and agent and everybody got together and surrounded me. (We) went back to the drawing board and went back to what I do well.â€� Mullinax moved from 139th to 123rd in the FedExCup. NOTES • Justin Thomas shot 75 on Sunday, 12 shots higher than his record-setting 63 in the third round. He made his only birdie of the day at No. 10. Thomas fell to T9, but still collected his first top-10 in his eighth major championship. “It wasn’t going to be like yesterday,â€� said Thomas, who hit half the greens in regulation Sunday. • Si Woo Kim, winner of THE PLAYERS Championship, finished T13. It was his third major start, and the first time he made the cut. Kim, who shot 75 on Sunday, finished at 6-under 282. This was just his second start since his victory at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Kim ranks 25th in the FedExCup. • Bill Haas’ T5 finish was his first top-20 in nine U.S. Open starts and just his second top-10 in a major. This was Haas’ 31st start in a major. • Brandt Snedeker’s T9 finish was his seventh top-20 in his past nine U.S. Open starts. He’s finished in the top 10 five times in that span. • University of Texas senior Scottie Scheffler finished T27 to earn low-amateur honors by a stroke over Texas A&M senior Cameron Champ, the long hitter who was in the top 10 through two rounds. Scheffler shot 1-under 287 (69-74-71-73). “I was trying to compete and see if I could win the golf tournament,â€� said Scheffler, who missed the cut at last year’s U.S. Open after shooting a first-round 69. “I thought it would be pretty cool winning the U.S. Open as an amateur, and that was my goal coming in. Coming into today, I realized I didn’t really have a shot anymore, but I still wanted to play my best golf and see what I could do.â€� Champ finished T32 at even-par 288 (70-69-73-76).

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ATLANTA - This has been a life-changing week for Rory McIlroy. It could be a historic one, as well. McIlroy and his wife, Erica, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Poppy, into the world Monday. With wife and baby safely at home, a rejuvenated McIlroy was able to find his form in time for the first round of the TOUR Championship. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Season unlike any other comes to thrilling finish at East Lake "Golf was the furthest thing from my mind the first few days this week," he said. "And then once we got home on Wednesday and everything was good and mom and baby were healthy, that sort of took a load off my mind, and that meant I could come here and somewhat focus on what I’m supposed to do." McIlroy is trying to become the first player to successfully defend the FedExCup and win the season-long title three times. He and Tiger Woods are the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. McIlroy started this week seven strokes behind FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson. His 64 matched the low round of the day, however, and allowed him to pick up three shots on the lead. McIlroy will start Saturday in fourth place, four shots behind Johnson and Jon Rahm. McIlroy started this season with six consecutive top 5s, including a win at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, but the 2019 FedExCup champion has struggled since the season resumed. His best finish in eight starts since the Return to Golf is T11. In his last five events, he's a combined 2 over par and has just one finish better than 30th (a T12 at last week's BMW Championship). He admits it has been hard to focus without fans on-site and his pregnant wife at home. His caddie, Harry Diamond, carried a phone on the course and McIlroy was prepared to leave immediately if Erica went into labor. He doesn't have to worry about that anymore. Many players say fatherhood helps their game because it changes their perspective, and McIlroy is no exception. He didn't touch a club this week until arriving at East Lake on Thursday. "Golf was sort of the furthest thing from my mind, and sometimes that’s a good thing just to decompress and get away from it," he said. McIlroy birdied his first hole Friday, hitting a 331-yard tee shot on the uphill first hole and knocking his 137-yard approach to 7 feet. He shot 30 on the back nine, including birdies on his final three holes. He birdied the par-5 18th after hitting a 366-yard tee shot through the fairway. It was reminiscent of his drive in the playoff here four years ago, which McIlroy won to earn his first FedExCup. Today was McIlroy's 25th round at East Lake. He matched his career-low score at the annual site of the TOUR Championship. He shot a final-round 64 in 2016, when he holed out on the 16th hole and then won a playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell. Just like today, Johnson was the FedExCup leader and atop the TOUR Championship leaderboard on that fateful day four years ago. He shot a final-round 73, though, and lost his best chance to win the FedExCup. Thursday's 64 was McIlroy's best round since a first-round 63 at the Travelers Championship in late June. He hit 14 greens Friday, including every one on the back nine, and holed two putts apiece from 10-15 feet and 15-20 feet. "Whether I don’t feel like my game is in a good place or I’m not the favorite coming into a tournament, all that stuff, I feel like that’s when I usually play my best and I can play with a bit of freedom, and that’s what I did today," he said.

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