Ciganda fires 67 to share lead at LPGA Shanghai

AUSTIN, Texas — Billy Horschel had just enough left in the tank to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday with help from Scottie Scheffler in a tough end to the longest week in golf. RELATED: Bracket, Scoring | Winner’s Bag: Billy Horschel, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Horschel made only one birdie in the championship match, chipping in from 40 feet on the fifth hole, and left the mistakes to the 24-year-old Scheffler in winning 2 and 1. Horschel, who had never reached the weekend in four previous appearances at this World Golf Championships event, won six out of the seven matches over 122 holes he played at Austin Country Club. He won for the sixth time on the PGA TOUR, and his fifth individual title. “It was one of those days where I didn’t play very good,” Horschel said, still able to smile because of the outcome. “I was just grinding it out.” It ended a great run for Scheffler, a Texas graduate who had to beat three former Match Play champions and two players from the top 10 in the world to reach the championship match. He had the support of the Austin crowd that occasionally shouted out, “Hook ’em.” He pulled a tee shot on the par-5 sixth that required him to take a penalty drop away from the boundary fence. He pulled his approach on the par-5 12th into the water. He hooked another drive off the two-story hospitality tent left of the 15th fairway. Through it all, he managed to stay in the match. Scheffler made par and halved the hole after the penalty drop on No. 5. Even after hitting into the water on the 12th, he had a 10-foot par putt to win the hole after Horschel hit a wedge into the bunker. Scheffler missed to stay 2 down. Horschel hit another wedge into a back bunker on par-5 16th. This time, Horschel got up-and-down to save par and halve the hole, and he won the match when Scheffler missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th. Matt Kuchar won the consolation match over Victor Perez of France. Kuchar, trying to tie Tiger Woods’ record with a fourth appearance in the championship match, didn’t make a putt longer than 3 feet, 6 inches in his semifinal loss to Scheffler. Perez wasn’t much better. He lost three holes on the back nine to Horschel by making bogey or worse. The wind had a lot to do with that, with gusts raging through the trees in the morning and still causing problems in the afternoon. The championship match didn’t feature a birdie after Horschel’s chip-in on the fifth hole. Scheffler, who made 15 birdies in 31 holes to beat Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm on Saturday, had only four birdies in his two matches Sunday.

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With very little going on in terms of live sports, it stands to reason that the PGA TOUR has attracted new fans in the first two weeks after emerging from the three-month hiatus. Come Sunday, a few have to be wondering if only plaid jackets are awarded to the winners. Just like last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, this week’s RBC Heritage was relocated to an unfamiliar month due to the pandemic. In recent history, it’s served as the exhale in the week after the Masters in April. This year, it not only is contested for the first time in June, it also assumes the original slot traditionally occupied by the U.S. Open and will finish on Father’s Day. As of midday Monday, the 153-man field at Harbour Town Golf Links includes 117 who competed at Colonial Country Club last week. For what it faces on the par 71 stretching just 7,099 yards, scroll past the projected contenders. POWER RANKINGS: RBC HERITAGE Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama and defending champion C.T. Pan will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. In response to playing time missed as a result of the hiatus, 12 more spots were opened at the RBC Heritage. Customarily, it’s an invitational with 132 golfers, but even with the expansion to 144, the field is nine stronger than rescheduled. This is because all automatic qualifiers are allowed entry regardless of reserved space. Harbour Town will give the robust gathering all it wants. At just 3,700 square feet on average, greens are among the smallest everyone in the field will see all year. The biggest difference between April and June is that the putting surfaces no longer need to be overseeded. This will give the TifEagle bermudagrass planted in advance of the 2016 edition of the tournament the opportunity to really shine. Due to work done to reconfigure cart paths and trim trees, some fairways are wider, but finding the shortest grass off the tee isn’t necessarily the premium at Harbour Town. Not unlike the tee-to-green objective at Augusta National, placement for approach shots is key. That favors the thinking man and course management. Short of finding spot on the dartboards, including on each of the par 5s, shot-shaping under and around overhanging trees accentuates the challenge dimensionally. If the greens were larger, the approach game would have even greater value, but Harbour Town caters to the small ball. As all worthy courses yield so as to prove fairness, there have been exceptions, but the champion likely will have scrambled well, which is to say that he’s putted well. C.T. Pan slotted below the field average in fairways hit last year, and he was right at the field average in greens in regulation, but he was tidiest with his short game, slotting second in putts per GIR. He did hit it tight (seventh in proximity to the holes), but he also made the most of his modest opportunities by ranking fifth in par-breaker conversion percentage with the putter. He finished at 12-under 272 as the field averaged 71.170 for the week. The contingent that has played Harbour Town in April likely will feel more humidity this week. Daytime temperatures will climb into the 80s. A passing shower can’t be ruled out and wind probably won’t factor into club selection until Sunday, if at all. Incidentally, the last four who emerged victorious at the RBC Heritage were first-timers on the PGA TOUR. Wesley Bryan (2017) and Satoshi Kodaira (2018) were tournament debutants. The active streak matches the Barracuda Championship for runner-up honors behind the Sanderson Farms Championship where Sebastián Muñoz became the sixth consecutive first-time winner last fall. If you’re interested in more history of the RBC Heritage, please check out the all-time Power Rankings that published during the original week of this season’s edition. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Qualifiers and Reshuffle. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the “LEAGUES” tab. Then click on “FEATURED,” and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates. SEASON SEGMENT

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