Expert picks for the Northern Trust Open
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Expert picks for the Northern Trust Open
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Why Phil Mickelson was not disqualified from the US Open and why other pros think he should have beenWhy Phil Mickelson was not disqualified from the US Open and why other pros think he should have been
Phil Mickelson started the final round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills 14 strokes behind the leaders, but he had become the story of the tournament thanks to a bizarre penalty and a ruling from the USGA that many disagreed with. The incident came on the 13th hole of the third round when Mickelson hit his bogey putt well past the hole and it appeared that it might roll off the green. Rather than wait to see where the ball might end up, Mickelson literally ran after the ball and hit it again as it was still moving. Fox announcer Joe Buck was stunned and momentarily speechless. After the putt, commentator Curtis Strange may have summed it up best as Mickelson was walking off the green with
Not much wind and a lot of Will as Zalatoris leads at PGANot much wind and a lot of Will as Zalatoris leads at PGA
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The wind finally relented Friday in the PGA Championship. Will Zalatoris never did. From the fairway or the rough, Zalatoris kept hitting the golf ball on the button at Southern Hills and took advantage of gentler conditions late in the afternoon for a 4-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira of Chile. The weekend will include Tiger Woods in his second straight major, a remarkable achievement in its own right. Playing on a battered right leg from his car crash 15 months ago, Woods was outside the cut line after a double bogey on the par-3 11th hole. He played the final seven holes with two birdies and a pair of 15-foot par saves for a 69 to make it with one shot to spare. But he’s 12 shots away from Zalatoris, the 25-year-old from Dallas who is built like a 1-iron and could probably hit one flush with his eyes closed. No doubt, Zalatoris and his entire side of the draw was helped when wind that gusted over 30 mph Friday morning laid down over the final two hours. Bubba Watson had a shot at the first 62 in PGA Championship history. He missed from just inside 25 feet on the 18th hole and had to settle for the 18th round of 63 in this major, and the third at Southern Hills. He joined Woods (2007) and Raymond Floyd (1982). Pereira also had a chance at 63, missing from 7 feet on the ninth hole to close his round. “I lucked out with the draw, for sure. We played 11 on without any wind,” Zalatoris said. “When I got out of position, I got the most out of it.” He opened with a shot from the rough that tumbled across the length of the green to 2 feet. He hit another through a gap in the trees to 7 feet. Not only did he have a bogey-free card, all five of his birdies were inside 8 feet. Zalatoris was at 9-under 131. And all Justin Thomas could do was watch from the couch of his rental home in Tulsa. Thomas did the heavy lifting in the morning, when the wind was raging and limbs were swaying. He dropped only one shot on his way to another 67 that set a daunting target for Rory McIlroy and everyone else in the afternoon. And now Thomas is three shots behind, with Watson right behind him. Of some two dozen players under par, only five came from the wave that played Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the two windiest windows of the week. McIlroy got the good side of the draw and failed to seize on the moment. He didn’t make a birdie until the 13th hole. That was his only one in a round of 71 that left him five shots behind. Jordan Spieth, playing alongside McIlroy and Woods, finally got back to even par for the tournament until driving into the water on the 18th for a bogey and a 69. He was 10 shots behind in his bid to get the major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. The weekend will not include Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who stumbled badly down the stretch and finished with a double bogey for a 75 to miss the cut — 4-over par — by two. Jon Rahm thought he might have worked his way back into the mix with a 69 to get to 2-over 142, and he was skeptical about the forecast of wind abating. “They said the wind was going to go down this afternoon. No, it’s not. It’s Oklahoma,” Rahm said. “It’s going to stay just as windy as we had.” If only. Watson had never scored better than 68 in his previous 49 rounds in the PGA Championship. And then he dropped nine birdies and goes into the weekend with a chance. Zalatoris and Pereira, who led the Korn Ferry Tour a year ago, will be in the final group Saturday, two players still searching for their first PGA TOUR title. Zalatoris has plenty of experience in the majors. He was runner-up in the Masters to Hideki Matsuyama in his debut in 2021. This is his eighth major, and he already has four top 10s. “When I took the sole lead on 12, I told my caddie, ‘Let’s enjoy this,’” Zalatoris said. “In my first Masters, I was runner-up and I wanted to enjoy it. I’ll take that same attitude.” Woods looked to be headed home after his double bogey on the par-3 11th, where he went from the high grass framing a stream to the bunker on the other side of the green. And then he saved par from a bunker on No. 12, hit wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 13th, saved par with another 15-footer on the next hole and hit his best shot on the 16th to 4 feet. “I had to go grind and go to work, and I did,” Woods said. “Hopefully, I can get a hot weekend and you never know.” Hot is a popular term in these parts, particularly with memories of 100-plus degrees in August when the PGA was last at Southern Hills in 2007 and Woods won by two. For Saturday, the temperatures were forecast for the low 60s.
Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson look to mirror Farmers Insurance Open success at U.S. OpenJon Rahm, Bubba Watson look to mirror Farmers Insurance Open success at U.S. Open
SAN DIEGO – Jon Rahm should’ve been stressed standing over critical par putts midway through his second round at the U.S. Open but with his previous experience at the Farmers Insurance Open in his back pocket his heartrate never lifted. Rahm battled with his driver off the tee on Friday, finding just one fairway in the first 12 holes of his round, but used the rest of his skills to scratch out a 1-under 70 and move to 3-under just two back of morning wave pace-setter Richard Bland. RELATED: Full U.S. Open leaderboard | ‘It’s OK to not be OK sometimes’ As a previous winner at the PGA TOUR’s regular January stop on the same course (2017), Rahm had a comfort level others might not when it comes to the subtle breaks on the Torrey Pines greens. And sure enough, he drained momentum saving putts from 14-feet on the 10th, seven feet on the 11th and five feet on the 12th to rescue his chances of claiming a first major victory. “I just had to survive. I’ve got to say, that stretch of putts on 10, 11, 12 was key. Things could have taken a turn for the worse, and I was able to save three great pars in a row,” Rahm said. “The memory of some putts and some breaks can always help. Obviously, they’re rolling a little bit different, a little bit faster and you have to play a little bit more break, but in my case, the putt on 11, I knew it was straight. I’ve hit that putt before. I’ve missed it before. And like the putt on 10, I knew it broke a lot more than it looks.” It is this experience that meant it was no surprise for Rahm to see fellow former Farmers Insurance Open winner Bubba Watson (2011) shoot a 4-under 67 to join him at 3-under heading to the weekend. “I’ve played well here. This golf course is such a beast. Great putters don’t make as many putts because rumor is it bounces around these greens. I’ve got a chance on this course,” Watson said. “The golf course has definitely changed since I won ten years ago, but I can see some of the shots. I’m just hitting big slices, trying to get the ball in play, but I can see this golf course a lot better, and I got some confidence knowing that some areas are patchy, where you can play out of the rough when you miss the fairway.” For Rahm to continue to play stress free he knows he will have to start hitting the fairway more often – much like he did after the confidence building one putts. He only missed one in the final six holes. Prior to that he was missing predominantly to the left. “I feel like it looks worse than it really was. It’s easy to get a little bit tight on this golf course,” Rahm said. “All the shots, the start lines were proper, they just weren’t fading. I’m just not turning fast enough. (So) I just have to swing a little bit harder with the driver, and that’s exactly what I did starting on 13.” The Spanish star is not suggesting he’s owed anything from the unfortunate circumstance that saw him withdraw from the recent Memorial Tournament presented by Workday while leading by six with a round to play thanks to a positive COVID-19 test, but he did say he believes in karma as he looks to keep his form going this weekend. “I believe in karma in the sense that good things happen to good people,” Rahm smiled. “What happened a couple weeks ago is something I can’t control, unfortunately, but what I can do is control what I do every second of the day. Just following the routine, make sure I’m hydrated, make sure I’m eating, and make sure I’m thinking the right things out there on the golf course. So far I’ve done a great job, and hopefully I can keep going.” For Watson to keep it rolling he knows the key ingredients are having fun and then having focus at the right moments. He figures that’s what helped him where he is so far. “I was just kind of in the flow playing with two great guys, shooting the breeze, making fun of them and stuff, so it really took me out of my element. I didn’t know what they were shooting. They didn’t know what I was doing,” Watson laughed about his pairing with fellow Masters champions Adam Scott (+3) and Sergio Garcia (+3). With his last top-10 at a major coming in the 2018 Masters and his last top-10 at a major outside of the Masters way back at the 2010 PGA Championship where he was runner up Watson said he will stay relaxed by playing video games and staying happy. He had missed the cut in six of the last nine U.S. Open’s he’d played. “I enjoy (the added pressure). I’m striking the ball well. I’m actually going to practice some five-footers, and I’m going to hit some balls just a little bit just to make sure we’re doing what we want to do,” he added. “I think I’ve been playing well. I feel like I’m charging.”