Cantlay wins Vegas playoff for first PGA title

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Dustin Johnson was frozen in his follow-through for several seconds as he watched his ball roll slowly down the steep slope of Shinnecock’s Redan green — the one that caused so much controversy here 14 years ago. One fan loudly encouraged Johnson’s ball on its lengthy journey, and when it finally dropped the U.S. Open leader balled his right hand in a fist, bent his elbow at a 90-degree angle and stared into the grandstands. Throughout Friday’s round, even on this long attempt, Johnson never looked surprised by the route his putts were taking on Shinnecock Hills’ poa annua greens. There was no shock at an unintended turn or frustration with a misdirected strike. On almost every green, he either bent his knees as another ball barely missed its target or clenched his fist after in quiet celebration another successful stroke. “Every putt looked like it was going to go in,� said Tiger Woods, who played alongside Johnson and finished 14 strokes behind him. That’s why even this 45-footer for birdie hardly elicited any emotion. “I knew coming off the putter … (I) hit a really nice putt,� Johnson said. “About halfway there, it was on a really good line if it would just get to the hole.� It was the only long putt that he needed to make in an impressive 67 that gave Johnson control of the U.S. Open. At 4-under 136, he held a four-shot lead when he signed his scorecard. “He’s just hitting the fairways, keeping it in front of him and he’s playing DJ golf,� Justin Thomas said. “It’s just really good and consistent. He drives the ball really well. His distance control and his iron play, he flights it great. And he’s a very, very underrated bunker player. He had some great up-and-downs out of bunkers today and he’s putting the ball well. “So pretty much has it all covered, I think.� He does. Johnson is coming off a six-shot victory at last week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic that returned him to No. 1 in the world. He’s undoubtedly been the best player thus far at Shinnecock Hills. Johnson’s incredible length gets most of the attention, but that does a disservice to a well-rounded game that is well-suited for the multi-faceted examination that this historic course offers. He ranks in the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (1st), Approach-the-Green (12th) and Putting (20th) this season, and is eighth on TOUR in scrambling. He’s missed just six fairways through two rounds, and a strong short game minimized the number of high-pressure par putts that are so common at a U.S. Open. He only needed to make two putts outside 10 feet – both for birdie – on Friday, and 10 of his 14 par putts were from five feet or less. He’s made just four bogeys in the first 36 holes. “I like where par is a good score on every hole no matter what club you have in your hand,� Johnson said. They don’t come much tougher than Oakmont, where Johnson won by three shots in 2016. Shinnecock Hills has provided two drastically different tests this week, and Johnson has passed them both. High winds, with gusts in the 30s, buffeted this historic linksland Thursday. Johnson was one of just four players to break par on a day when the field hit less than half the greens in regulation. A cold rain fell for much of Johnson’s second round but he made just one bogey. “It was still breezy, but with the rain coming down it was cooler. The golf ball was going nowhere,� Johnson said. “The course played really long. Through our first 13 or 14 holes, it was playing very difficult.� Johnson has become a perennial contender at his national championship, finishing in the top four in three of the past four U.S. Opens. The only exception was last year at Erin Hills, when he missed the cut after the birth of his second son earlier in the week. He’s 7 under par in the past five U.S. Opens, and was a 12-foot putt away from also winning the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. “The harder it is, I know he thinks, ‘Good. Make it tough,’� said Johnson’s instructor, Claude Harmon III. “The worse the conditions, the easier it is for a guy like him because he literally has no pulse. “I think we’re just seeing Dustin get very comfortable in difficult situations on difficult golf courses because he’s really good. He’s very confident right now.� And for good reason.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Viktor Hovland had the lowest round of the day with a 6-under 66 and is off to another great start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. This time, he has a good idea what to expect on the weekend at Bay Hill. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Inside the Field: THE PLAYERS Championship Rory McIlroy got a sneak preview. Hovland played Friday morning and set the target on a warm day with increasing wind, making seven birdies and a few key pars saves late in the second round. He posted a 9-under 135. McIlroy played in the afternoon and was poised to catch him until his putter let him down on greens that were getting crisp and slippery. Tied for the lead, McIlroy missed a 4-foot par putt, putts from 8 feet on the next two holes for birdie and par, and he finished off his 72 by missing a good birdie chance from 15 feet. He was two behind along with past Bay Hill winner Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Talor Gooch (68), who won his first PGA TOUR title in the final official event last year. Hovland was two shots out of the lead going into the weekend last year when he closed with rounds of 77-78 and wound up 15 shots behind. “I kind of try to forget the weekend here last year,” he said. “I played really well the first few days, very similar to how I played so far this year. The course just gets harder and harder every single day, and it started blowing. A few too many bad swings and I ended up in bad spots and just didn’t really take my medicine.” McIlroy opened with a 65 in slightly softer conditions Thursday morning and it didn’t take long for him to realize how much the course had changed. He bogeyed the opening hole and did well to battle back with three birdies. And then it was a diet of pars until those dried up. He was seven shots worse, and said it didn’t feel that way. “Those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday,” McIlroy said. “It’s going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it’s going to be a good test over the weekend. I’m glad I got 18 holes in those conditions because the course definitely changed a lot from when I played it yesterday morning to this afternoon. “I’ll be a little more prepared for it tomorrow.” As for Hatton, he wasn’t sure what to think except that he putted well. That much was evident from his 22 putts. He won here two years ago — the last PGA TOUR event before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months — and does have a good feel for the greens. That’s about the only part of his game that felt right. “I’m not particularly happy with how I hit the golf ball the last few days,” Hatton said. “I think the score is pretty flattering. I’ve putted really good, which is why I’ve got the score that I have, but I know that I can’t keep hitting it that badly certainly with how it’s going to be playing much tougher this weekend. “Hopefully, I can find a golf swing, and hopefully the putt stays up this weekend.” Gooch didn’t drop a shot until his final hole. Still, it was a stout performance considering he played in the afternoon. His round included a 40-foot eagle putt down the slope on the par-5 16th, and he was rarely out of position until going from thick rough right of the ninth fairway to the front bunker, leaving himself nearly 40 yards from the back pin. Bay Hill was such a test that Jon Rahm still couldn’t find his groove with the putter and was one shot outside the top 10. He had a 70 and was among those seven behind. The cut was at 3-over 147, the sixth straight year it was over par. Patrick Reed missed it by one shot, his third straight tournament missing the cut. That hasn’t happened to Reed since 2017. Seven players shot 80 or higher. Hovland had no such concerns, and he was particularly good on the back nine when he ran in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th, two-putted for birdie on the 16th and then smashed a 5-iron from 230 yards to 10 feet on the par-3 17th for a third straight birdie. McIlroy, who had 30 putts, was told that Hovland needed only 23 putts and Hatton only 22. He had the same response to both questions, knowing all of them would be playing late. “See how he does tomorrow.”

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