Dustin Johnson headlines big names to miss cut at windy PGA Championship

Nick Taylor is not from a town as small as Humboldt, Saskatchewan, but he knows what it’s like for a tight-knit community to come together. Taylor, from Abbotsford, British Columbia, will be donating $500 for every birdie – and $1,000 for every eagle – he makes this week at the RBC Heritage to the GoFundMe page set up by the small Canadian town as it recovers from a horrific tragedy less than a week ago A bus carrying 28 people – players of the Humboldt Broncos (a hockey team from the town of approximately 5,500 about 4 1/2 hours from the U.S. border) along with support staff and coaches – collided with a transport truck. Fifteen people were killed and the remaining 13 were injured, some still in critical condition. Taylor, who teed off at 8:40 a.m. ET Thursday, said the initiative was a no-brainer. “Not that I need more motivation to win a tournament, but to have this in there to help out is something else,� he said. “I know the support they’ve already had on the GoFundMe page has been incredible, so for me to get some golf fans to maybe throw some money in there … anything helps, and that’s the mentality.� The GoFundMe page was originally set up by two members of the community to help pay for parking for the parents of the victims (the junior hockey team featured players aged 16-20) and buy some coffee and donuts, with a moderate goal at first. Online fundraising efforts have since reached more than $8.1 million ($6.4 million U.S.), making it the most successful GoFundMe campaign in Canada, and the third-most successful in the platform’s history. Taylor, who played hockey for about five years until he was 15 years old, said he never got to the level of hockey where he would be traveling around, but he enjoyed it a lot growing up. In talking to people who have lived with another family while playing for a team away from home – like many members of the Humboldt Broncos – Taylor said that community would be so close. “There’s a huge family network in hockey life,� he explained. Graham DeLaet has not yet returned to action on the PGA TOUR after a procedure on his back in January, but he is from Weyburn, Saskatchewan – about 3 1/2 hours from Humboldt – and has ties to the area. When wildfires raged through Fort McMurray, Alberta in 2016, it was DeLaet who originally challenged his fellow Canadian TOUR pros, including Taylor, to donate to the recovery efforts there. Corey Connors is also in the RBC Heritage field and has #HumboldtStrong on his cap and is marking his ball with “HB.� Although Taylor’s hometown is much larger than Humboldt, it only has a population of 141,000. Both he and Adam Hadwin played out of the same golf club growing up, so that special moment was a big deal in their community. On the other end of the spectrum is this terribly sad event, he says, but he knows what it’s like to have a whole town rally around a singular event. “In a town of that size, everyone knows each other even more,� he said. Taylor is 66th on TOUR in total birdies in 2017-18 with 151. He’s made two eagles so far, and is hoping to increase that total at Harbour Town Golf Links this week. He finished T22 last year, shooting 69-66 in the first two rounds. It was his best result at the RBC Heritage. He comes into the week having missed his last three cuts, but said he put in a lot of hard work on a handful of “little things� that were adding up to some big misses of late. He said he feels refreshed, is ready to go on a good run, and is excited for a good week for both himself and the small Saskatchewan community that has been impacted in a big way. “It seems like the whole hockey world, the whole country of Canada and even in the U.S. has rallied (for Humboldt),� he said. “It’s been pretty amazing, the rally around it.�

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KAPALUA, Hawaii — Xander Schauffele tied the Plantation course record at Kapalua with an 11-under 62 on Sunday, and he needed every shot to beat Gary Woodland by one shot and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele started the final round five shots out of the lead and opened with a bogey. His fortunes turned quickly, and it got better with every hole. He ran off three straight birdies. He chipped in from the front of the green on the par-5 ninth for eagle. He holed a wedge from 107 yards for another eagle on No. 12. He took his first lead with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, both times coming close to chipping in for more eagles. Tied with Woodland over the closing holes, Schauffele finished birdie-birdie to match four players for the record. “It was a crazy day,” Schauffele said after his fourth career PGA TOUR victory, and second in as many starts this season. “I didn’t do much leaderboard watching. I knew it was going to be a birdie fest at the end. We kept our head down and made a run for it.” Woodland had a chance to force a playoff, but he hit his drive on the par-5 18th so far — 390 yards downhill but into a Kona wind — that he was between clubs. He tried to draw a hard 4-iron and left it out to the right, hit a pitch-and-run to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt. It was a tough loss for Woodland. He started the final round with a three-shot lead and closed with a bogey-free 68. He never shot worse than 68 all week and was the only player in the winners-only field to have all four rounds in the 60s. It still wasn’t enough. “This one will sting,” Woodland said. Schauffele was in the group ahead of him, and Woodland could see as the 25-year-old Californian went after the left flag on the tough 17th hole to just inside 10 feet for the first birdie of the final round. Woodland hit his approach to just inside 12 feet, and made the second birdie of the day to tie for the lead. Schauffele wasn’t finished. He hammered a 3-wood onto the green at the 18th to about 12 feet, narrowly missing his third eagle of the final round. He rolled it in for his 62 to finish at 23-under 269, and then had to wait. Given a chance to watch on TV, Schauffele figured there would be a camera on him. He chose to wait in the trailer, listening to traffic over the radios, taking a second to realize that Woodland had missed his putt and it was over. Before long, he had a lei around his neck and the trophy in his hands, along with one other perk. “It means I get to come back, which is even better,” Schauffele said. He doesn’t get as much attention as some others from the vaunted high school class of 2011 — Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas head that list. Schauffele is becoming increasingly tough to ignore. This is the second time in three seasons that he has at least two victories. That includes a World Golf Championship last fall in Shanghai, and the TOUR Championship to close out the 2017 season. Thomas closed with a 65 to finish alone in third. Woodland couldn’t think of much he did wrong except fail to take advantage of a few pins he could have played to more aggressively. But he found no consolation in losing to a guy who shot 62 in the tougher of the two wind directions on the west end of Maui. “I don’t think it will ever be easy because I still believe I was playing well enough to shoot 66 today,” Woodland said. “You have an iron into the par 5 in the middle of the fairway on the last hole, you expect to make birdie. I had killed the par 5s all week this week, which is what you’ve got to do out here. So I knew what he was doing and the competitor in me knew I needed to do one better. And unfortunately, I didn’t get it done.” Neither did Rory McIlroy. He played in the final group with Woodland, three shots behind, knowing he had played in the final group six times last year without winning. He got within two shots early, but didn’t make a birdie after the fifth hole and closed with a 72 to tie for fourth with Dustin Johnson (67) and Marc Leishman (71). “I gave myself plenty of chances, just couldn’t get anything to drop,” McIlroy said.  

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OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – News and notes from Friday’s second round of THE NORTHERN TRUST, the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs. Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Jhonattan Vegas share the early clubhouse lead at 6-under. VEGAS WORRIED ABOUT HURRICANE Jhonattan Vegas enters the weekend at THE NORTHERN TRUST with a great chance to grab his third PGA TOUR win, but his mind may be elsewhere as Hurricane Harvey makes its way towards his Houston base. Vegas, who successfully defended his RBC Canadian Open title this year, shot a sublime bogey-free 5-under 65 on Friday, moving him to 6 under. But his thoughts were with his wife, his 17-month-old daughter, and his mother who are back in Texas about to bear the brunt of the storm. The National Weather Service expects heavy rain, flooding, strong winds and “life-threateningâ€� storm surges, with the potential to be the worst hurricane to hit the U.S. since Katrina ripped apart the New Orleans area in 2005. “It’s hard. It’s hard not being home, not being able to help with the house and with everything. I think I’m a little bit fortunate that we live up north in The Woodlands, and historically, by the time hurricanes come into Houston, it takes a little longer to get into Houston,â€� Vegas said. “But you never know what could happen. I’m in touch with them the whole day today and hopefully it will be just some precipitation but nothing more than that.â€� Vegas is hoping his performance can be a positive distraction although he is worried TV service could be knocked out in the storm, leaving his family isolated. “We’ve been through many hurricanes, even some tough ones, Ike several years ago was a really tough one through Houston that we had to get out of there,â€� he said. “And so hopefully this one doesn’t look as it’s going to be as big, but it’s always scary. It’s always scary when you have a wife and daughter and mom at home by themselves, so God willing, nothing will happen. “Obviously it’s something that it’s going to be in the back of my mind for the next few days.â€� LITTLE RICKIE HOLDS HIS OWN Glen Oaks was supposed to favor the bombers so there is no surprise to see Dustin Johnson up top but playing partner Rickie Fowler has more than held his own through the opening two rounds at THE NORTHERN TRUST. It’s one thing to get the ball out there with the long boys. It’s another to do it accurately. Fowler is averaging 296 yards off the tee through two rounds, well and truly amongst the top bracket in the field and just two yards short of Johnson’s current average. But perhaps more importantly he’s missed just three fairways in two rounds. He backed up his opening 68 with a 4-under 66 to move to 6 under and a share of the early clubhouse lead. “This (course) is right up DJ’s alley, there’s not many courses that don’t fit him. Long courses, they become somewhat shorter for him, and the shorter courses, can basically take driver and lob-wedge and putter,â€� Fowler said. “I think the biggest thing is it continue to drive it well to give myself a legitimate chance this week and continue to make putts. Stuff that I think I’ve done well all year. “I would say there are some holes, certain carries and stuff like that, that open it up for DJ a little bit but by no means does that mean I can’t go out and beat him.â€� Fowler entered the FedExCup Playoffs as the 5th seed and a win would all but secure he gets through to the TOUR Championship inside the top 5. The top 5 at East Lake are guaranteed to win the FedExCup if they win the TOUR Championship. CASEY IN CONTENTION AGAIN A year ago Paul Casey was hot during the FedExCup Playoffs, chalking up runner up results at the Dell Technologies Championship and the BMW Championship before finishing 4th at the TOUR Championship. Had he won in Atlanta he would have been the FedExCup champion. After opening 69-68 at THE NORTHERN TRUST to be just three back of the clubhouse lead at 3-under the Englishman once again has designs on breaking his PGA TOUR victory drought. His lone victory in the USA was the 2009 Houston Open. “That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Didn’t you get the memo? I’ve had a solid season so far but no question now is the time to really up it,â€� Casey, who entered the Playoffs ranked 18th in the FedExCup said. “This has grown in stature. Now we’re over a decade in. It means a big deal. Guys are putting this down on the list of things they want to accomplish on the golf course. “And my goal this time of year to try and get hot. I did it last year with a couple of second-place finishes. It gave me an opportunity to win the FedExCup when we got to East Lake, and I want to do the same. “Guys are playing good. I’ve got to continue to play my good form.â€� Casey admits he has begun to try to dissect the reasons why he has been ultra-consistent the last three seasons with eight, seven and six top-10 finishes respectively but yet has not won an event. But it’s a delicate balance as he tries not to mess with methods that are clearly giving him multiple chances to salute. “I’ve been looking at it. I’ve been looking at things like strategy on the golf course recently. It’s no question, the game has evolved. Certainly, since I’ve been out on TOUR. But the last few years, it’s really, really changed,â€� he adds. “Johnny (caddy) and I have been looking at strategy recently: Have we been aggressive enough off the tee? We talk about, since you have the shots-gained statistics which has come out and you look at the guys who have not only won this year but won multiple times, how have they played golf, how have they attacked golf courses, are we doing the right thing. “So I think my love for the game and enjoyment we’re getting is certainly the right thing. It’s other little aspects that we’ve got to change and see if we’re doing the right thing that might be the difference between winning and not winning.â€�

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