Costly final hole gives JT only share of lead

HOW THEY QUALIFIED Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Dufner Webb Simpson Winner – The Open Ernie Els Henrik Stenson Winner – TOUR Championship Billy Horschel Winner – World Golf Championship Event Russell Knox Shane Lowry Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every William McGirt Winner – FedExCup – Last Five Seasons Brandt Snedeker Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Aaron Baddeley Jonas Blixt Steven Bowditch Keegan Bradley Alex Cejka Greg Chalmers Cody Gribble Emiliano Grillo Bill Haas James Hahn Padraig Harrington J.J. Henry Billy Hurley III Smylie Kaufman Kevin Kisner Danny Lee Davis Love III Hunter Mahan Peter Malnati Ben Martin Graeme McDowell Troy Merritt Ryan Moore Grayson Murray D.A. Points Cameron Smith Kyle Stanley Robert Streb Chris Stroud Brian Stuard Vaughn Taylor Nick Taylor Career Money Exemption Geoff Ogilvy Carl Pettersson Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Arjun Atwal Chesson Hadley Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Sam Horsfield Hao Tong Li Dru Love Ryan Ruffels PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Savio Nazareth Past Champion of Respective Event Camilo Villegas Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Roberto Castro Kevin Na Jason Kokrak Ryan Palmer Harris English Charles Howell III David Hearn Luke Donald Kevin Streelman Kyle Reifers Daniel Summerhays Ricky Barnes Chad Campbell Harold Varner III Martin Laird Johnson Wagner Scott Brown Chez Reavie Patton Kizzire Bryce Molder K.J. Choi Spencer Levin John Huh Sung Kang Jason Bohn Tyrone Van Aswegen Derek Fathauer Blayne Barber Lucas Glover Brett Stegmaier Zac Blair Cameron Tringale Andrew Loupe Boo Weekley Mark Hubbard Ben Crane Michael Kim Anirban Lahiri Shawn Stefani Seung-Yul Noh Top 125 on Prior Season’s Official Money List thru Wyndham Ken Duke Bud Cauley Retief Goosen Chad Collins Morgan Hoffmann Top 125 (Prior Season Non-member) Byeong Hun An Søren Kjeldsen Major Medical Extension Nick Watney Brian Gay Bob Estes Ryo Ishikawa Troy Kelly Top 10 and Ties from the Previous Event Richy Werenski Greg Owen Stuart Appleby Tom Hoge Sam Saunders Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Kelly Kraft Kevin Tway Ollie Schniederjans Whee Kim Cheng Tsung Pan J.J. Spaun Dominic Bozzelli Ryan Blaum Scott Stallings Trey Mullinax J.T. Poston Brandon Hagy Cameron Percy Seamus Power Sebastián Muñoz Jonathan Randolph Rick Lamb Martin Flores Rory Sabbatini Julián Etulain Tim Wilkinson Ryan Brehm Andres Gonzales Brian Campbell Joel Dahmen Tag Ridings Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Mark Anderson Nicholas Lindheim Steven Alker Ryan Armour Brett Drewitt Miguel Angel Carballo Brad Fritsch Bobby Wyatt Max Homa Brian Davis Shane Bertsch 126 – 150 Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List (Reordered) Matt Jones Steve Wheatcroft Willy Wilcox

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SAN ANTONIO — Ben Martin played in the first pairing Friday at the Valero Texas Open. He shot even-par 72 as his wife and mother walked along. RELATED: Leaderboard It was sunny, cool, bright and quiet at TPC San Antonio. Martin finished two rounds at 3 under, which allows him to play the weekend, making his third cut in five starts since September. It was the kind of morning he reminded himself to appreciate. He knows his family, including his two young daughters, are with him this week. They were with him last week, too. They watched him lead the Corales Puntacana Championship after the first, second and third rounds. They hoped he could win for the first time since his one and only victory at the Shriners Children Open seven years ago. They despaired when he missed a short putt on the 72nd hole to finish in second. What happened next surprised even them, the people who know him best. Asked after his round to comment on the loss, Martin could find no words. He tried for more than a minute to gather himself. He then described how badly he had wanted to win that afternoon. He thought it was going to be his week. The runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Amateur, a two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, had last been in the mix at the 2016 John Deere Classic, where he finished second. He admitted that contending sure seemed a lot harder now than it used to. “I guess I wanted this one a lot more,” he managed. Video of the emotional interview inspired messages of compassion, empathy and solidarity. Viewers saw a man broken by his own hopes — a humanity and vulnerability that elite athletes rarely allow. Martin’s wife, Kelly, saw a side of her husband that surprised her, and also relieved her. “I’m not used to seeing those emotions from him,” she said. “I think it’s been a good thing to tap into.” Martin said he still hadn’t watched the video, but “she told me that.” He added, “It could be.” Like most professional golfers, Martin said he tries to limit the emotional extremes. What happened last week in the Dominican Republic simply overwhelmed his defenses. “One of the reasons we’re good at golf is that we keep it pretty even keel,” Martin said. Now, one of the reasons more people know and care about him is because he didn’t. “I think in a cool way me finishing second had a bigger impact on people that it would have if I’d won the tournament,” Martin said. A couple of years ago, when he was struggling to make cuts, Martin wondered if he should consider something else. What came easily once — playing in the Masters Tournament as an amateur, earning his TOUR card and winning early in his career — began to seem insurmountable. But he recommitted, which is exactly what got him to that 72nd hole last week with a chance to force a playoff. He failed to win. But he nearly did. His Top 10 finish got him into the Valero Texas Open, where he shot 69-72 on a difficult golf course in the wind. “I’m 100 percent,” he said. “I think this is where I need to be.”

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After being shut out in 2019, will an American win a major in 2020, or will South Korea continue to dominate on the LPGA Tour?

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