It’s been the summer of Brooks Koepka vs. Bryson DeChambeau. Can the U.S. Ryder Cup team get along the way the European side does? Will it?
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SAN DIEGO — Jon Rahm chipped in for birdie and holed out from 111 yards for eagle to start his round Saturday, and he scrambled superbly along the back nine for a 7-under 65 at Torrey Pines and a one-shot lead over Ryan Palmer in the Farmers Insurance Open. Rahm won his first PGA TOUR title three years ago at Torrey Pines when he made a pair of eagles over the last six holes for a 66 to rally from a three-shot deficit. This time, he tries his hand with the lead. Related: Leaderboard | Tee Times | Woods needs big Sunday for win No. 83 Palmer traded birdies and bogeys most of the day until his 10-foot birdie on the 17th gave him a 1-under 71 and his second chance to win in as many starts this year. Joining them in the last group was Rory McIlroy. McIlroy hit a 5-iron from the bunker to 6 feet on the tough par-4 12th hole, hit his approach to 2 feet on the tough par-4 15th and two-putted for birdie on the 18th for a 67 that left him among those within three shots of the lead. Tiger Woods still had fleeting hope of picking up his record 83rd victory, mainly because of a par. Woods got within two of the lead at the turn and didn’t make another birdie in his round of 69. He had to make a 15-foot par on his final hole. Rahm was at 12-under 204 as he goes for his fourth PGA TOUR victory, and 11th worldwide. Woods was among 16 players within five shots of the lead, and Rahm knows from experience how momentum can change at Torrey Pines. He said having won here in 2017 will mean nothing to him Sunday. “The only thing it’s going to do is keep me focused, no matter how good I’m playing, knowing that somebody can come and do the same thing,” Rahm said. The third round started two hours late because of heavy fog, and even when the sun broke through, there wasn’t much clarity on the leaderboard with so many in contention. McIlroy is playing for the first time since late November and didn’t appear to pick up too much rust during his break. “Even if you’re not making that many birdies but if you keep giving yourself chances, it’s one of these golf courses that you feel like you’re playing really well, you might be a couple under,” McIlroy said. That’s OK. No one else is going that low. Keep doing the same thing tomorrow and should be right there.” Sung Kang (67) and PGA TOUR rookie Harry Higgs (69) joined McIlroy at 9-under 207, while the group at 8 under included Brandt Snedeker, who birdied his last two holes to salvage a 72. One day after Woods opened with a four-putt double bogey, he rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt and was on his way. He finished his front nine with a sand wedge he spun back to 3 feet for his fourth birdie, closing within two of the lead. And then he drilled his driver down the 10th fairway. Woods hit a pedestrian wedge to about 25 feet, and he didn’t have a birdie chance inside 20 feet the rest of the round. That included both par 5s, and the only putt he made was a 15-footer for par on the 18th after hitting wedge over the back and into a bunker. Still, it kept him from dropping a shot and falling further behind. “Just never got anything going coming home,” he said. “It was important to make that putt on 18.”
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Lucas Glover smiled wryly when he was told he and Tiger Woods are the only two players in the PGA Championship field this week who have won majors at Bethpage Black. “That’s probably about it,â€� he joked when asked what else they might have in common. “That and we’ll have 14 clubs in the bag this week, I guess. “That’s pretty cool to have that (in common). That might be the only thing that anybody will ever use he and I’s name in the same breath. And any time you’re lumped in with him. It’s a pretty big honor.â€� But the now 39-year-old three-time PGA TOUR winner hopes he might have something else in common with Woods … the ability to recapture some old glory. Woods has famously returned from injury in the last year, winning the TOUR Championship and the Masters to pull within one of Sam Snead’s record 82 PGA TOUR wins. At East Lake it was Woods’ first TOUR win in five years and at Augusta it was his first major win in nearly 11 years. Glover, who won the 2009 U.S. Open, has faced similar lengthy win droughts. He has also battled some minor injuries, including most recently his knee. The last of his three TOUR titles came at the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship. But this season … well you could say he’s trending. Glover sits 31st in the FedExCup this season thanks to the fact he has four top-10s and 11 top-20s from 15 starts. Last season he managed just one top-10, back in October of 2017, so it is a welcome return to form. Related: Featured groups, tee times | Rethinking Tiger Woods | Spieth ‘flying under the radar’ in latest career Grand Slam bid | Nine things to know about Bethpage Black | The First Look Especially considering his FedExCup positioning since his last winning season reads 219th, 114th, 185th, 147th, 106th, 43rd and 135th. “I don’t think there’s been anybody to play this game that hasn’t been fried at one point or another,â€� Glover said. “It was pretty up and down and some lean times, but again, I don’t know of anybody that’s played this game for a long time that hasn’t gone through some ups and downs.â€� “Like (former NFL player) Brian Dawkins said in his Hall of Fame speech, you’re going through something so you’re going to come out on the other end, so that’s the way I’m looking at the last few years is I’ve come out the other side. “I haven’t won, I haven’t accomplished any of my goals, but I’ve come through it.â€� Glover’s victory in 2009 came in extremely wet conditions. The rain is again falling at Bethpage in the early part of this week. Back then he held off the likes of Woods, and Phil Mickelson as they charged towards him. He might have to do so again should he find himself in contention. “Any experience you have, good or bad, you can make it a positive, and that’s what I’m trying to do … I’m in every way a different person than 10 years ago, but I can still lean on all of that,â€� he adds. “My golf swing is different, my putting stroke is different, my brain is different, everything is different. But at the same time, I still get comfortable when I walk into the clubhouse or drive through the gate. “It’s just that calming feeling. It’s almost like how I imagine some guys feel driving down Magnolia Lane at Augusta that have had success there. It’s just like an automatic deep breath, like I’ve done it here, let’s see what we can do again.â€�
PGA Tour Champions PowerShares QQQ Championship Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, Calif. WINNER: Bernhard Langer MONEY: $305,000 SCORE: 11-under 205 BUZZ: Langer defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez in a two-hole playoff to capture the second leg of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and win his seventh title of the season. Langer, 60, put together a final-round 5-under 67 to overtake 54-hole leader David Toms, who finished third. A lipped-out 15-foot birdie putt on his 72nd hole left Langer in a tie with Jimenez, but two playoff holes later at the par-4 18th, Langer sunk a 30-footer for birdie to seal the victory.
