Brooks Koepka defends title at PGA Championship

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Badds was good Saturday in Puerto Rico. Aaron Baddeley shot a bogey free 6-under-par 66 and, at 12-under, leads by one heading into Sunday’s final round at the Puerto Rico Open. Baddeley (70-68-66) has won four times on the PGA TOUR – his last win came in 2016 at another opposite-field event, the Barbasol Championship – and said he’s excited for the opportunity Sunday will bring. “Super excited,â€� he said. “I’m right in everything, so it’s a good opportunity tomorrow, but will try not to put any pressure on (myself). I just know if I can go out there and play my game, keep swinging the way I’m swinging, putting the way I’m putting, I should have a good chance coming down the last.â€� Baddeley is looking to join countryman Marc Leishman (CIMB Classic) as Australian winners in the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. His best result this year was a T-4 at the Safeway Open. He said the key to his round Saturday was hitting greens, which made for a low-stress Saturday. “I hit the ball close a few times. I had some short birdie putts. I’ve just doing a few things like that (that) made it pretty comfortable,â€� he said. The only thing out-of-routine for Baddeley on Saturday came when a young fan ran under the ropes to get a photo with him. The Australian smiled when the young fan’s father asked, and he kindly obliged. It didn’t distract him, he said, and he enjoyed the moment. “It was all fun and games,â€� he said. Baddeley will be paired with Nate Lashley for Sunday’s final round. Lashley (68-68-69) made birdie on the 72nd hole to earn a spot in the final group for the first time on the PGA TOUR. It was odd start to the day for Lashley going bogey-eagle-bogey on the first three holes. He righted the ship, he said, and finishing with a birdie means momentum for Sunday’s finale. Lashley is no stranger to winning in the Caribbean. His lone Web.com Tour victory came at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship – which is now a PGA TOUR event – and said that experience was going to help on Sunday, although he acknowledged the magnitude of being in the final group on the PGA TOUR. “This is a lot bigger deal,â€� he admitted. “Any time you get a chance to win on any tour, it’s great. Going into tomorrow, I’m just going to try to go out and keep calm and play some good golf and see what happens at the end of the day.â€� Martin Trainer finished a shot further back at 10-under. He won twice on the Web.com Tour in 2018 to earn his PGA TOUR card via The 25. A group of five golfers sits at 9-under, including Wyndham Clark, Johnson Wagner, D.J. Trahan, Martin Piller, and Joey Garber. Garber and Boo Weekley tied for the low round of the day – 7-under-par 65, also the round of the tournament so far – and Garber, who is in the penultimate Sunday pairing, said he was excited for a chance to earn his first PGA TOUR victory. “There’s nothing better than playing late on Sunday on the PGA TOUR,â€� he said. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in and look forward to getting that competitive juice going tomorrow.â€�

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It was the easiest difficult decision of Marc Leishman’s life. He had a huge desire to represent Australia in the Olympics five years ago. Doing so would put his wife’s health at risk, however. Audrey Leishman was still recovering from a bout of sepsis in 2015 that, according to doctors, gave her just a 5% chance of survival. Her immune system was still compromised over the next year-and-a-half. She was getting sick almost every other week. So, with the Zika virus wreaking havoc in the lead up to Rio de Janeiro, Marc Leishman knew he couldn’t board a plane to Brazil in good conscience. He couldn’t risk bringing Zika — or any foreign disease, for that matter — home to his wife. Plus, Audrey desperately wanted to add a third child to join sons Harvey and Ollie once she was fit enough to do so. “At that point I was sick all the time. I can’t even remember the amount of antibiotics I had to be on in that first year in particularly,” Audrey says. “It was hard because in that time I was still compromised and all I wanted was to try for another baby. “But the doctors all said I needed to recover and had to stop being sick every other week. Then, the Olympics come up and it is the opportunity of a lifetime for Marc and you don’t ever want to take that away from your partner. “So we talked it all through with each other and my doctors and unfortunately Marc pulling out became a decision that we just had to make.” Leishman called it a “no-brainer” once all the medical advice was presented to him. “It was an easy decision but still a tough one to make because you don’t want to give up any chance to represent your country,” Leishman said. “But at the end of the day there was just no way I was going to put Audrey at any further risk. Plus, we wanted another child one day and Zika was also a threat to that at the time.” The six-time PGA TOUR winner could only shake his head when it became apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic would postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games. What were the odds a virus could end his Olympic dream twice? But while the Games are a year behind – and will be done under health protocols and without spectators – the boy from Warrnambool will in fact become an Olympian, joining good friend Cameron Smith on the Australian team. The two paired to win this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans and finished second in the 2018 World Cup of Golf. Leishman had the same childhood dream as many growing up in Australia – to don the green and gold and represent his country. Whether it was in cricket, karate, tiddlywinks or triathlons, didn’t matter. Leishman was 9 years old when he watched Kieran Perkins become a national hero by winning gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle in the 1992 Barcelona Games. But as golf became the most obvious avenue for Leishman’s athletic talents, Leishman’s dreams of Olympic gold faded. Representing his country was always top of mind, however. So, when golf returned to the Olympics, Leishman was excited at the prospect of becoming an Olympian. Now he will be one. “I’m not getting any younger and while I’d like to think I can make the team again in 2024, and maybe even 2028, you never know how often this chance can come around,” Leishman, 37, says. “I’m excited about it. I’m pumped for the chance to play for my country. “It would be huge to win a medal. I’ve grown up wanting to win the majors – I didn’t think of the Olympics past a very young age because I wasn’t good enough at anything else – but to be able to have the chance now is awesome. “Golf in the Olympics is still new but it is already a very big deal. You could see how proud Justin Rose was and is of his gold medal and I’d feel the same way if I won one.” Audrey and the Leishmans’ three kids – daughter Eva was born in July 2017 — are really revved up to watch dad’s gold medal quest. They’ve ordered special Australian shirts and flags for the viewing parties they’ll have together. Harvey, already an accomplished junior golfer, is 9 years old. Unlike his father, however, he won’t have his eye on the 1500-meter freestyle. He will be watching what happens at Kasumigaseki Country Club, where his father will pursue the prize he dreamed about at the same age.

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PATRICK CANTLAY, XANDER SCHAUFFELE TEAM FOR WIRE-TO-WIRE ZURICH CLASSIC VICTORY Defending FedExCup champion. Reigning Olympic gold medalist. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele appeared a formidable duo from the get-go at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s only full-field team event, and they surpassed expectations across four rounds at TPC Louisiana. Cantlay/Schauffele set a tournament scoring record with a 13-under 59 in opening-round Four-ball, and the duo kept the pedal down, finishing 29-under for a two-stroke victory over Sam Burns/Billy Horschel. (The event featured a Four-ball format on Thursday and Saturday, with a Foursomes format on Friday and Sunday.) Not only did Cantlay/Schauffele become the first team to win the Zurich Classic in wire-to-wire-fashion, but they also set the tournament scoring record. Schauffele had recorded eight runner-up finishes on TOUR since his most recent victory (2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions), and he earns his fifth TOUR title alongside good friend and fellow Southern California native Cantlay, who secures TOUR triumph No. 7. Cantlay and Schauffele each earn 400 FedExCup points for their efforts – splitting standard first-place and second-place points. Cantlay ascends to No. 4 on the season-long FedExCup standings; Schauffele moves to No. 20. “We definitely bring out the best in each other,” Cantlay said after the victory was finalized, “and we really enjoy being out here together.” A strong recipe for a dynamic duo. TOUR HEADS SOUTH TO MEXICO The PGA TOUR added a second event in Mexico to its schedule with January’s announcement of the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Vidanta Vallarta will host the event for the next three years. Jon Rahm headlines the field with plenty of home-country talent trying to lift a trophy on Mexican soil. Abraham Ancer leads the Mexican contingent at Vidanta Vallarta alongside fellow TOUR winner Carlos Ortiz and Korn Ferry Tour winner Roberto Diaz. Major champions Gary Woodland, Graeme McDowell and Patrick Reed are set to tee it up. Multi-time TOUR winners Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, Cameron Champ and Kevin Na are in the field. Vidanta Vallarta opened in 2015 and features large landing areas off the tee, while the greens are protected by cavernous bunkers. The Mexico Open is considered the country’s national golf championship and was first contested in 1944. It boasts winners like Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Roberto De Vicenzo, Ben Crenshaw and Stewart Cink. The winner will receive 500 FedExCup points. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “That was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt of that length. It sounds silly just to have a chance to make the cut … to somehow shake that putt in on the last hole was something I’ll never forget. But just the whole week, playing with Bill, getting texts from all my kids, it’s just been a real charge.” – Jay Haas reflects on making the cut at the Zurich Classic while playing alongside son Bill. BY THE NUMBERS 59 – Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele combined for a tournament-record 59 on Thursday in Four-ball (best-ball) play. 68 – Jay Haas became the oldest player in PGA TOUR history to make the cut at 68 years, 4 months and 20 days old. 3 – Scott Parel was victorious at the ClubCorp Classic by winning a three-man playoff over Steven Alker and Gene Sauers. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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