Bryson DeChambeau to undergo surgery on left hand

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Matthew NeSmith tied the Copperhead course record at Innisbrook with a 10-under 61 and set the tournament record for 36 holes in building a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Valspar Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Justin Thomas determined to return to winner’s circle at Valspar Championship Scoring has been low all week after rain softened the course and the wind has been minimal. Even so, no one had posted better than 64 until NeSmith put together the round that was more than nine shots better than the average. He had eagle putts on three of four par 5s, making an 8-footer on the par-5 14th. He shot 30 on the front nine, and his 18-foot birdie putt on his final hole at No. 9 burned the edge of the cup. The 61 tied the course set by Padraig Harrington in 2012. NeSmith was at 14-under 128, breaking by two shots the 36-hole record at the Valspar Championship that Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley set a year ago. Adam Hadwin of Canada, whose lone PGA TOUR victory was five years ago at Innisbrook, had a 66 and was two shots behind. Burns remained in the hunt in the title defense of his first PGA TOUR victory. He recovered from a rugged start to post a 67 and was three shots behind with Scott Stallings (66). Justin Thomas was four behind. NeSmith only missed one fairway and two greens, and the only stress he was under came on the par-4 second hole, his 11th of the day, when he had to make an 8-foot par putt to avoid a three-putt from 50 feet. His bonus came two holes later by making a 40-footer on the par-3 fourth. Two days around the Copperhead course has created very little stress for Hadwin, with his game and between the ears. He has been patient about when to attack and relied on confidence in his putting stroke to pile up the birdies and one big par. He was out of position on the seventh hole in the right bunker when he made a 15-foot putt to escape with par. On the par-3 eighth, he made a 20-foot birdie and before long was on his way. “The par putt on 7 was a big one to get me going,” Hadwin said. “I hit some good putts previously but didn’t get any out of it. They started to find the center after that.” Thomas was right alongside him most of the morning, running off four birdies in a five-hole stretch along the back nine. He took care of both par 5s on the front nine and was at 12 under when he attempted one shot he would like to have back. Blocked by a tree in the rough, Thomas thought he could get enough spin on his ball to hook it toward the green with a 52-degree wedge. It just didn’t work out that way. He missed well to the right by some 30 yards, put it into a bunker between him and the green and took double bogey. He had to settle for another 66, a good effort over 36 holes, and a reminder to not take on too much, especially in the early rounds. “I should have just tried to hit it in the front bunker and it was a pretty easy up-and-down,” Thomas said. “As soft as the greens are, I was like, ‘If I can get this thing turning and landing around there, I can actually have a putt at this.’ As good as I felt with my putter, I felt like if I got it on the green, I could make a 3. But it wasn’t necessary. It just didn’t really need to happen.”

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

NORTON, Mass. — Jon Rahm accomplished so much so quickly that he began to wonder what else was left for him to achieve in his first full year on the PGA TOUR. He now has 10 million reasons to play his best golf. Already very much in the hunt for the FedExCup and its $10 million bonus, Rahm took another step Saturday when he made an eagle and five birdies over his last 10 holes for a 5-under 66 and a two-shot lead at the halfway point of the Dell Technologies Championship. Rahm already has a short history of strong finishes in his first trip to the TPC Boston. One day after he birdied four of his last five holes, he made a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th and then shot 31 on the front nine to reach 9-under 133. No one could catch him in the afternoon, least of all Dustin Johnson. Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player who had a one-shot lead going into the second round, had a pair of double bogeys after a quick start and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to keep from falling further behind. Johnson shot a 72 and was five shots behind. It’s already been an amazing year for Rahm. The 22-year-old Spaniard was No. 137 at the start of the year. Now he’s at No. 5. His two main goals were to get to East Lake for the TOUR Championship and win a tournament. Check. Check. But after a runner-up at Colonial, he has missed the cut twice and finished out of the top 25 in three other PGA TOUR starts. “It’s probably because I got to the point where I had accomplished so much more than I had set myself to in the beginning of the year that I felt like there was nothing else to do,” he said. “It made me complacent of what I had accomplished all year. I didn’t play with the same intensity. I really didn’t have a goal. “It’s taken me two months to realize what I’ve done, and hopefully I can keep surprising myself.” Paul Casey, who played in the final group last year until Rory McIlroy ran him down, had a 65 and was two shots off the lead along with Adam Hadwin (65), Kevin Streelman (65) and Kyle Stanley (68). Streelman is at No. 90 in the FedExCup, and only the top 70 after the Labor Day finish advance to the third playoff event in two weeks outside Chicago. Rahm was only part of a cool, calm day that left a large crowd entertained, and at times surprised. Lucas Glover (No. 16) and Grayson Murray (No. 8) each made a hole-in-one that the PGA TOUR estimated were 65 seconds apart. Phil Mickelson dropped only one shot on his way to a 67. He was just three shots off the lead at 6-under 136, his best 36-hole score since the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June. Jordan Spieth also turned around his fortunes. Despite missing a pair of birdies inside 7 feet, Spieth still shot a 65 and was in the group four shots behind. Spieth attributed his slow start in the opening round Friday to waking up on the wrong side of the bed. “For me, it was just a matter of just stop being cranky,” Spieth said. “I don’t know what to tell you. I was getting more made at bad breaks than you should. It was a bad day at the office yesterday and a really good one today. I’m going to need two really good ones again. But to be within four shots after yesterday’s round is a tremendous accomplishment.” McIlroy, meanwhile, was headed home after missing the cut as the defending champion for only the second time in his career. McIlroy also missed the cut as defending champion in the 2012 U.S. Open. McIlroy will still advance to the BMW Championship, though he will need a top finish to get to East Lake for the TOUR Championship. That’s no longer a concern for Rahm. He is No. 5 in the FedExCup, already assured of going the distance. He won at Torrey Pines in January. He even won his first European Tour title at the Irish Open. And he now has a very clear goal over the next few weeks. “I think we all have the same goal in the next few weeks, which is the FedExCup,” he said with a smile. He still has a long way ahead of him at the TPC Boston. Twenty players were within five shots of the lead with two rounds to go, and players were bracing for a Sunday of wet weather. The tee times were moved back and will be played in threesomes because of the forecast. The cut was at 3-over 145, which spared the likes of Bubba Watson, who is at No. 72 in the standings. Watson missed a 3-foot par putt on the par-5 18th hole and figured he would miss the cut until Patrick Rodgers hit into the junk on the 18th hole, had to take a penalty drop and made bogey. Adam Scott wasn’t so fortunate. He came up short of the 18th with a sand wedge and missed a 6-foot par putt, giving him a 75. He wound up missing the cut by one shot after flying in from Australia to try to extend his season.

Click here to read the full article…