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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the 147th The Open Championship gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom plays to Par-71 (36-35) and is hosting for the eighth time. Champion Golfer of the Year Francesco Molinari fired a final-round 69 to post eight-under-par 276 to win The Open Championship by two shots. Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele all shared second place. Molinari’s first major championship was also the first for Italy as he picked up his third win in his last six events worldwide. Even more impressive than his recent run of form, Molinari didn’t make a bogey in his final 37 holes as he tamed the feared Carnoustie on the weekend. He was 74th of 79 players in hitting fairways but still kept squares off his card and he made par-saving putts all day. His winning round included 13 consecutive pars to begin Sunday and finished with his second birdie from five feet on the 72nd hole. Playing with Tiger Woods, it was never going to be easy, but he looked anything but fazed by the situation. He joined Justin Rose as the only two players to post both weekend rounds in the 60’s as he signed for 65-69. The 35-year-old has now rattled off T2, T20, T25 and WIN in his last four majors as he’s in the form of his life. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. Not even a pair of firsts in his last five events plus a runner-up finish last week at the John Deere Classic could convince a majority of gamers to stick Molinari into the lineup! Don’t worry, he’ll be in the other three majors for the next five years and The Open Championship until he’s 60. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 selected golfers (plus one) in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: It was incredible to see five of the top six players in the conversation at some point on Sunday. Molinari should be a popular selection at the PGA Championship at Bellerive next month or the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational before that. Winning for the first time on the PGA TOUR didn’t bother him so I doubt a major championship will cause him to shut it down. … Of the last 12 major champions, 10 have been first-timers. Only Koepka and Spieth have won more than once. Justin Time After making birdie on the last Friday to make the weekend, England’s Justin Rose took full advantage of his second chance. He backed up his 64 on Saturday, the lowest round of the week, with a grandstand finish on Sunday. His 69 included an eagle on No. 14 and taking the clubhouse lead after making birdie on the final hole for the fourth round in a row. His T2 is his best Open Championship finish and is his fifth top-10 in his last five starts worldwide. Return of the McIlroy In his last four Open Championships Rory McIlroy has nearly won them all. His T2 this week adds to T2 (’14), WIN (’15) and T5 last year. It’s not a surprise he heats up this time of year and this week he put all four rounds in the red this week. Sadly he didn’t make anything besides the monster eagle on No. 14 in the last round. Gamers do know when he turns on the class, it’s time to jump on board and they will have MULTIPLE events to use him coming down the stretch. X Marks the Spot If Xander Schauffele (T2) was your entrant in this week for lowest score of Class of 2011, please step up and claim your prize! Playing in the final group with Spieth won’t do anything except enhance his confidence moving forward in his second season on TOUR. His four top-10 paydays this season have come on Riviera, TPC Sawgrass, Shinnecock Hills and Carnoustie. He’s played six majors over the last two years had has three top-six finishes including the best of the bunch from this week. Scar Tissue Kevin Kisner shared the 54-hole lead with Spieth and Schauffele but posted 74 Sunday to share second. Kisner was the solo 54-hole leader last summer at Quail Hollow Club at the PGA Championship and also posted 74. He’s now played from the final group and the penultimate group in two of the last four majors. Remember in 2015 when he lost three playoffs before finally breaking through? This was his first top-10 paycheck since Harbour Town the week after the Masters. Sunday Stunners Tiger Woods led in the final round in a major championship after his first 10 holes on Sunday. He was seven-under before doubling No. 11 and squaring a bogey on No. 12 to knock him out of the top spot. He rallied for a birdie on No. 14 and shared T6 three ways, just enough to get him to No. 50 in the OWGR and into the field at the WGC-Bridgestone in two weeks. He’s won that event eight times and this will be the final year it hosts this or any PGA TOUR event. … Eddie Pepperell was T16 at Erin Hills in 2017, the last major he played before T6 this week. … Kevin Chappell is now working with Sean Foley. I’d say it’s working after picking up his first top 10 (T6) since API in March. … The defending champion, Jordan Spieth, and runner-up, Matt Kuchar, from Royal Birkdale both cashed T9. It’s Spieth’s second top 10 in the majors after solo third at Augusta. It’s Kuchar’s first top 10 since Houston in late March. I didn’t know Carnoustie had such healing powers. I thought it was supposed to be difficult and punishing! … Tony Finau has hit the top 10 in all three majors this season after finishing T9. Study Hall As predicted by many Marcus Kinhult (T61) and Erik Van Rooyen (T17) led the field in fairways with 42 of 60 (70%). … Tommy Fleetwood (T12) and Finau (T9) were Nos. 1 and 2 in GIR. … Molinari was joined by Koepka and Cameron Davis (T39) in circling the most birdies for the week with 17. In 2007 the leader in this category circled 18. … Gary Woodland has never MC in seven Open Championships but only has one top 25 (T12, 2016). … Jason Dufner has now made the weekend in seven straight across the pond. … The 2019 Open Championship will be contested at Royal Portrush. The Barbasol Championship has been fighting weather all weekend and is currently suspended in Round 4. The top 20 players haven’t been on the course yet.

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Collegiate standout Matthew Wolff, who’s fresh off winning the 2019 NCAA men’s individual title by five shots, announced that he’s making his professional PGA TOUR debut at the 2019 Travelers Championship, and that he’ll be joining Team TaylorMade. After his six-win sophomore season at Oklahoma State University, 20-year-old Wolff’s decision to turn pro was a matter of when, not if. While he has what some would call an unorthodox golf swing, Wolff has proven he can compete on the PGA TOUR. He made the cut at the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open as an amateur, finishing T50. His decision to sign with an equipment sponsor, however, was less certain. In today’s age of equipment, it’s no guarantee anymore that a player – even as highly touted as Wolff — will sign an equipment deal. Look at Brooks Koepka; after four major championship victories, he still remains an equipment free agent, certainly leaving huge sponsorship money on the table. Wolff, however, already played a bag full of TaylorMade golf clubs while at Oklahoma State University, so his decision to sign with that particular company is less surprising. TaylorMade has yet to comment on the signing, but based on the video posted to Wolff’s Twitter, it does seem that Wolff has signed a full equipment deal with TaylorMade. In addition to using TaylorMade clubs, Wolff is wearing a TaylorMade hat, he has a TaylorMade staff bag, and he’s hitting TaylorMade TP5x golf balls. At the 2019 NCAA Championships, Wolff used a TaylorMade M5 driver, an M5 fairway wood, P-750 irons, Milled Grind wedges and a Spider X putter. In the Twitter video, however, it seems Wolff may be testing between a TaylorMade M5 driver and an M6, since he is hitting both drivers in the video. It will be interesting to see if Wolff makes any changes to his NCAA-winning club setup when he makes his pro debut at the Travelers Championship later this month.

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Brooks Koepka’s victory at last year’s U.S. Open sent traditionalists into a tizzy. Those accustomed to knee-high rough and narrow fairways were disgusted with Koepka’s ability to wield driver with impunity on a course that was too wide and too soft for their liking. One year after winning on a modern golf course making its U.S. Open debut, Koepka has a chance to make history on one of the country’s most historic layouts. Shinnecock Hills hosted the second U.S. Open and is the only course to host this tournament in three different centuries. This venerable Long Island layout unquestionably offers an old-school test. Koepka is one of four players to share the 54-hole lead at Shinnecock Hills with a score of 3-over 213. Last year, he shot 16 under par to win at Erin Hills. His ability to excel on two disparate designs is testament to a game built on more than brute strength. Curtis Strange (1988-89) and Ben Hogan (1950-51) are the only two men to win back-to-back U.S. Opens since World War II. They crafted games that emphasized accuracy over distance to meet the strict demands of their national championship. Koepka, with his linebacker’s build and biceps that burst out of his tailored sleeves, is a modern player who hits the ball distances that were once unfathomable. But he also has a strong short game and the fortitude to withstand a stern setup. Koepka has finished no worse than T21 in his past 10 major championships, including five top-10s. He has four consecutive top-20s at the U.S. Open. He won last year and finished T4 in 2014. “I enjoy firing away from pins and having to be conservative sometimes and just finding a way to get through it,� Koepka said. “I feel like the harder the golf course, the better.� They don’t get much harder than Shinnecock Hills on Saturday. The field averaged 75.3 strokes as the greens grew firm in the warm, windy conditions. Hole locations set near the steep edges of Shinnecock’s putting surfaces forced players to avoid the hole with their approach shots. Koepka’s 72 tied the low score among the last 20 players to tee off. He was 1 under par for the first 11 holes but bogeyed three of his final seven holes. He holed a 63-foot par putt on the 14th green, then bogeyed the 15th after his wedge shot landed on the green but rolled into a bunker. He three-putted the par-3 17th before making par on the last hole. Daniel Berger and Tony Finau will play in Sunday’s final group after shooting third-round 66s. They both made the cut with just a shot to spare before shooting Saturday’s low scores. The past two U.S. Open champions, Koepka and Dustin Johnson, are their closest pursuers. Johnson, 33, is a friend and mentor to the 28-year-old Koepka. They share a swing coach, Claude Harmon, and trainer, Joey Diovisalvi, in South Florida. “We’ll be friends after the round, not during� said Johnson, who won last week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic to regain in the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Koepka is playing just his seventh tournament of the year after missing nearly four months with a wrist injury. He reinjured the wrist at THE PLAYERS but finished T11 after a record-tying 63 in the final round. He shot two more 63s in his next start to finish second to Justin Rose at the Fort Worth Invitational. “My game is in a good spot,� Koepka said. “I feel like you have to kind of take (the trophy) from me, to be honest.� He’ll accomplish a historic feat if he can keep his grasp on it.

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