COVID testing: No positive tests on PGA Tour; four positive tests on KFT

Click here to read the full article…

Voting has now been completed for the Round of 16 matches … and thanks to our fans (who broke three ties), we have the eight survivors for the quarterfinals of our Mythical Match Play Championship. With our 10 voters deadlocked at 5-5 for matches involving Xander Schauffele vs. Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa vs. Sungjae Im and No. 2 overall seed Jon Rahm vs. Marc Leishman, we enlisted the help of fans via the Twitter account of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. The results of those tiebreakers, along with all the Round of 16 results, are below. Voting among the 10 experts is now taking place for the quarterfinals. Our Mythical event is the just-for-fun exercise we’re conducting this week in lieu of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which was among the canceled events by the PGA TOUR in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The TOUR conducted a draw to produce a bracket, and now our 10 experts are voting for the winner of each match. We released the Round 1 results on Wednesday (click here), the Round 2 results on Thursday (click here) and the Round 3 results on Friday (click here) that determined the 16 survivors advancing to the single-elimination phase. We’ll crown the Mythical Match Play champion on Sunday. The voting rules are simple: Each expert was asked to pick a match winner, and the golfer with the majority of votes is the match winner. Our 10 expert voters include: GolfBet’s Jason Sobel from The Action Network; GolfTV’s Jamie Kennedy; Tom Alter and Jim McCabe from PGA TOUR Communications; Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton; PGATOUR.COM writers Ben Everill, Sean Martin, Mike McAllister and Cameron Morfit; and a combined vote from the TOUR’s ShotLink team. Here are the experts’ picks for the Round of 16 (each player’s seed is in parentheses). The quarterfinal results are scheduled to be released later on Saturday, so check back then. Rory McIlroy (1) vs. Louis Oosthuizen (19): 9 votes for McIlroy, 1 vote for Oosthuizen. McILROY wins. Why I picked McIlroy: “Oosthuizen is terrific at match play, but he can’t match the No. 1 player in the world. Rory rolls into the quarterfinals.â€� – Tom Alter Patrick Cantlay (8) vs. Webb Simpson (9): 7 votes for Simpson, 3 votes for Cantlay. SIMPSON wins. Why I picked Simpson: “Simpson simply looks like he knows every putt is going in.â€� – Jim McCabe Justin Thomas (4) vs. Ian Poulter (58): 8 votes for Thomas, 2 votes for Poulter. THOMAS wins. Why I picked Thomas: “Even though Poulter is the guy with the long-term reputation for stepping it up in match play events, Thomas is a sneaky 10-3-2 over the last three years of Ryder/Presidents Cup competitions, proving his skills translate well to this format.â€� – Jason Sobel Xander Schauffele (12) vs. Hideki Matsuyama (22): 5 votes for Schauffele, 5 votes for Matsuyama. Fan voting: 61% for Schauffele, 39% for Matsuyama. SCHAUFFELE wins. Why I picked Schauffele: “Xander is a pit-bull who waits for the slightest scrap and attacks. The first missed putt from Hideki would provide Schauffele a lead he would never relinquish.â€� – Ben Everill Jon Rahm (2) vs. Marc Leishman (15): 5 votes for Rahm, 5 votes for Leishman. Fan voting: 75% for Rahm, 25% for Leishman. RAHM wins. Why I picked Rahm: “Leishman is a tough match play guy with two trips to the round of 16 in the last three years, but 2017 runner-up Rahm is so comfy in Austin, he looks destined to win this tournament someday.â€� – Cameron Morfit Patrick Reed (7) vs. Tommy Fleetwood (10): 6 votes for Reed, 4 votes for Fleetwood. REED wins. Why we picked Reed: “Both players are really similar in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green ranking T-38 (Reed) and 34th (Fleetwood). However, Reed has a huge edge on and around the greens, ranking 38thin SG: Around-the-Green & 3rd in SG: Putting to Fleetwood’s 176th SG: Around-the-Green & 96th in SG: Putting. Reed has Fleetwood by over a stroke on and around the greens per round this season on TOUR.â€� – ShotLink team Sungjae Im (23) vs. Collin Morikawa (44): 5 votes for Im, 5 votes for Morikawa. Fan voting: 56% for Im, 44% for Morikawa. IM wins. Why I picked Im: “Quite the battle among two of the PGA TOUR’s biggest and brightest young stars. This one comes down to putting – Im ranks 36th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season while Morikawa ranks 174th.â€� – Mike McAllister Adam Scott (6) vs. Tiger Woods (11): 9 votes for Scott, 1 vote for Woods. SCOTT wins. Why I picked Scott: “Having not played a lot in recent weeks, a fourth straight match for Tiger could catch up with him. Scott’s putting has improved drastically in the last 18 months and that helps him knock off the Masters champ.â€� – Jamie Kennedy QUARTEFFINALS Rory McIlroy (1) vs. Webb Simpson (9) Justin Thomas (4) vs. Xander Schauffele (12) Jon Rahm (2) vs. Patrick Reed (7) Sungjae Im (23) vs. Adam Scott (6)

Click here to read the full article…

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Willie Mack, fresh off of two starts on the PGA TOUR, and ranked collegiate golfer Mahindra Lutchman from Florida A&M University, shot 4 under-par 68s to take a share of the first round lead in the APGA Tour at World Golf Village tournament Monday at the renowned King & Bear layout. Mack is the Flint, Michigan, native who played in both the Farmers Insurance Open and The Genesis Invitational as a sponsor exemption in recent weeks after a decade as a top player on the APGA Tour and other pro golf series. Lutchman is a senior at Florida A&M in nearby Tallahassee who is the No. 3-ranked player in the APGA Collegiate Golf Ranking compiled by PGA TOUR University. They are two shots clear of second place finisher Daniel Augustus of Bermuda, and three shots ahead of a group that includes Landon Lyons of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a two-time winner on the APGA Tour this year. The field of 49 players is competing for $25,000 in prize money with the tournament final round tomorrow on the 7,279-yard, par 72 golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Mack, who sank a 30-foot putt for birdie on No. 12, was happy with the way he handled the blustery conditions. "When the wind is blowing, you need your short game and that was working for me today," he said after carding five birdies but closing with bogey on the par-5 18th hole. Did the PGA TOUR experience help me today? Definitely." Mack was 1 under after 14 holes in the Farmers Insurance Open first round before eventually missing the cut there and at The Genesis Invitational. Lutchman, who is joined in the field by teammate and APGA Collegiate Ranking No. 1 Mulbe Dillard, bogeyed the first hole but vaulted into contention with all pars and five birdies, including on 17 and 18. Dillard shot a three-over 75. If Lutchman and Dillard can retain their rankings through the spring college golf season, they will be provided with exemptions into the APGA Tour summer events along with expenses and entry into the Pre-Qualifying Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament. The APGA Tour at World Golf Village is the fourth tournament of the landmark 2021 season, featuring a record 13 events and $350,000 in prize money, almost double from the 2020 season for the tour, whose mission is to bring greater diversity to the sport of golf. The tournament is being conducted under social-distancing and health/safety guidelines in conjunction with regional authorities.

Click here to read the full article…