Coronavirus causes further golf disruption in Asia

Rickie Fowler is off to a great start in pursuit of his first major title. The 28-year-old Fowler closed out a 7-under 65 with par on the tricky No. 9 at Erin Hills. He finished his first round with seven birdies and no bogeys with six of those coming in his first 11 holes. Fowler’s opening-round 65 tied the record for the lowest round shot in relation to par in U.S. Open history. While Rickie Fowler is making Erin Hills look like something other than a brutal U.S. Open course, Dustin Johnson made it look every bit as tough as advertised. Johnson spent lots of time in the knee-high fescue in his first round as the defending U.S. Open champion. Johnson hacked out of the tall grass on 14 en route to a double-bogey, then had to step into it twice on 17, but managed to save bogey there. Johnson finished his round at 3-over par. Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka each carded a 5-under 67 and are two behind Fowler’s lead in a tie for second. Patrick Reed closed his round with a birdie at the last that moved him into fifth at 4-under par. The course is playing at 7,845 yards for the first day.

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DETROIT — Tony Finau ran away with the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club to become the first PGA TOUR player in three years to win consecutive regular-season events. RELATED: Leaderboard | Inside the Field: Wyndham Championship Finau closed with a 5-under 67 for a five-shot victory and a tournament-record 26-under 262 total. Taylor Pendrith (72), Patrick Cantlay (66) and rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young (68) tied for second. Finau coasted to his fourth career victory, a third title in 11-plus months. He was the 3M Open winner last week in Minnesota, where he rallied from five strokes back to win by three. Brendon Todd was the last to win two straight in the regular season, doing it in 2019. Finau, the Salt Lake City native with Tongan-Samoan heritage, began his stretch of success last August at THE NORTHERN TRUST, where he had his first victory in five years and 142 PGA TOUR starts. Finau stopped another drought in Detroit, winning for the first time in six attempts when he had or shared the 54-hole lead in a PGA TOUR event. With his sixth birdie at No. 17 and a closing par, he broke Nate Lashley’s tournament record of 25 under set in 2019 during the inaugural PGA TOUR event. The PGA TOUR will close the regular season at the Wyndham Championship, with the North Carolina event opening Thursday. Players on the bubble will have one last shot to finish in the top 125 of the FedExCup standings to earn a spot in the Playoffs and a full card next season. Finau and Pendrith started Sunday tied and their potential duel in Detroit turned out to be a dud. Pendrith had his first lackluster round of the tournament after he shared the first-round lead with Finau, led him by one shot after the second and matched his 21-under total through three rounds. The 31-year-old PGA TOUR rookie from Canada hit an errant tee shot on the second hole to the right in the rough behind tree branches and later pulled a 9-foot putt to lose the lead for good. Cantlay, the defending FedExCup champion, had his third straight round in the mid-60s after opening with a 70. Young bounced back from a first-round 71 to finish second for the fifth time. Pendrith struggled in the final round just as he did the only other time he had a 54-hole lead. He led the Bermuda Championship last October by three shots before a 76 dropped him into fifth place, which was his best finish before his showing in the Motor City. Pendrith played in his third tournament after missing nearly four months with a broken rib. Finau began to pull away from Pendrith with an 11-foot birdie putt at No. 4 and a tap-in for birdie at No. 7. He made a 21-foot putt for birdie at No. 10 for his third birdie. After his first bogey in the tournament at No. 11, Finau made a 31-foot putt with a break from right to left at No. 12 and Pendrith missed an 11-foot putt on the same hole to fall four shots back. Cantlay surged within three shots of the lead with a 5-foot eagle putt at the par-5 14th. On the same hole, Finau made his fifth birdie of the final round to lead by four shots.

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After an opening-round, 6-over 78 at The 150th Open, Tiger Woods will need to go low Friday in order to advance to the weekend at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Woods began his second round at 9:58 a.m. local time Friday alongside Max Homa and Matt Fitzpatrick. Keep it here for hole-by-hole updates throughout Woods’ second round in Scotland, as the three-time Open champion (twice at St. Andrews) aims to author another improbable comeback in a career full of them. Hole 3 (par 4, 392 yards): Woods split the center of fairway with driver off the tee, leaving a short iron from 101 yards. He played a conservative wedge approach away from the hole, the ball spinning and skidding to an eventual stop 30 feet right of the hole. Knowing that it’s time to start making birdies in bunches if he hopes to survive the cut line, Woods delivered with a smooth stroke, the ball finding the center of the cup. Into red numbers on the day. 1-under Friday thru 3; 5-over total; 3/3 fairways hit; 3/3 greens in regulation Hole 2 (par 4, 449 yards): Woods took driver and played a high fade that landed in the right side of the fairway and rolled out to leave a good angle into the green. From 147 yards, he launched a high short iron that landed softly approximately 20 feet past the hole, a decent look at a birdie to kick-start his day. His birdie putt slid by, though, and he settled for a second consecutive par. Even-par Friday thru 2; 6-over total; 2/2 fairways hit; 2/2 greens in regulation Hole 1 (par 4, 357 yards): Woods took iron off the tee and played a low stinger down the middle on one of golf’s most iconic and widest fairways. After finding a divot off the tee on No. 1 in Thursday’s opening round, he had no such misfortune Friday. From 133 yards, Woods played a sensible wedge 30 feet right of the hole, safely away from the flagstick situated precariously close to the Swilcan burn. He two-putted for a routine par, two strokes better than Thursday’s double bogey at the opening hole. Even-par Friday thru 1; 6-over total; 1/1 fairways hit; 1/1 greens in regulation

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