FedExCup update: Justin Rose rises up leaderboard, standings

TNT to Televise Live Golf Competition, Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. ET, with Exclusive Live Content Available on Bleacher Report Event to Benefit Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Among Additional Initiatives to be Announced Turner Sports will present Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change, a premier golf event with the World Golf Hall of Famer and crossover legends competing - Phil Mickelson, Charles Barkley, Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning. TNT will exclusively televise the event, to be held Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. ET at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Ariz. Bleacher Report will also provide exclusive live content leading up to and during the event on the B/R app. Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change will uniquely contribute toward and highlight diversity, equality and inclusion through donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), while raising awareness and spotlighting opportunities for diversity and equality in sports. All four players have previously supported diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout their careers, which has led to them teaming up for this event. Additional information on these elements, among others, will be announced at a later date. "Capital One's The Match has become a franchise featuring some of the best in sports and entertainment, and we're looking forward to this next iteration and the meaningful awareness it will raise for social change," said Lenny Daniels, President, Turner Sports. "With Phil, Charles, Stephen and Peyton on the course, there's sure to be no shortage of must-see moments, in addition to the important causes driving each athlete's participation." The competition format will be modified alternate shot match play with five-time Major Champion Mickelson teaming with Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, as they take on three-time NBA Champion Stephen Curry - a near scratch golfer - and two-time Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning, who played a key role in his team winning the last edition of Capital One's The Match. "I'm excited to return for the third edition of Capital One's The Match and get out on the course with these three legendary athletes," said Mickelson. "While we may need a handicap for Chuck, I'm looking forward to playing with Peyton and Stephen and to help raise money for another important cause. It's also going to give fans and viewers an up-close look at Stone Canyon Golf Club, a place that I'm extremely proud of and excited to show how special it is." Barkley, Mickelson's teammate, added: "Capital One's The Match has been a lot of fun to be a part of over the past few years and I'm excited to finally show off my skills on the course. Phil and I got this, I GUARR-AAAN-TEEEE!!!" "Last year I had the incredible opportunity to play a small role in the rich history of Howard University through the game of golf," said Curry. "I truly believe an investment in HBCUs is an investment in our future and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to support these great institutions alongside some of my favorite players...and Chuck." Manning, Curry's teammate, added: "Capital One's The Match in May was such a memorable experience for me - not just competing against rivals and friends but, more importantly, contributing to COVID-19 and food insecurity relief efforts. I'm proud of the work the PeyBack Foundation has done to support HBCU students in both Louisiana and Tennessee, and I'm looking forward to helping raise additional funding and awareness for HBCUs through Capital One's The Match." Live event coverage airing on TNT will once again feature unprecedented access with all players having open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators. "Cart Cam" will also once again be featured throughout the competition. The event will be closed to the public and tournament organizers are working with public health officials on competition and production logistics to ensure the event follows safety and health protocols. More information on the live production, including the commentator team, will be announced leading up to the event. The Stone Canyon Golf Club, owned by Mickelson Golf Properties, is considered one of golf's preeminent desert settings and regularly ranks among the best courses in the country. Stone Canyon's 18 uniquely designed golf holes are situated at the base of the picturesque Tortolita Mountains, offering views of the Santa Catalina Mountains in all directions. The media agreement with WarnerMedia and Turner Sports was completed in partnership with SPORTFIVE, which represents Mickelson and is the tournament organizer. The event will also be co-operated with Excel Sports Management. Turner Sports is proud to be working with a number of marketing partners to host Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change, which is a sanctioned PGA TOUR event. Capital One has been the title sponsor of The Match series since it began, and the company is returning to collaborate on a number of social, digital and broadcast integrations leading up to and during the live event. To learn more about the company and its commitments to change banking for good, visit https://www.capitalone.com/about/our-commitments/. "HBCUs are testaments to the ongoing achievements of the Black community in this country. As part of our work to advocate for equity and justice, we are honored to use the funds raised from Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change to help strengthen HBCUs and create pathways to greater opportunity for the graduates of these vital institutions," said Andy Navarrete, Head of External Affairs at Capital One. Michelob ULTRA will serve as a presenting sponsor of Capital One's The Match. DraftKings will serve as a content integration partner, with AT&T, Callaway Golf, E-Z-Go, Stephen Curry's OXIGEN Water and Wheels Up as associate sponsors of the event. Autotrader will be the presenting sponsor of pre-show coverage. Additional partners will be shared prior to the event.

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MCKINNEY, Texas — Jordan Spieth woke up Friday at 4:30 a.m. He felt tight on the range at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He bogeyed his first hole. Spieth found little to like early in the second round, starting his morning slowly on the back nine and playing holes 10 through 13 at TPC Craig Ranch at 1 over. “Losing a couple to the field there got me a little frustrated,” he said. “If you kind of tap the brakes a little when the scores are going to be low you feel like you have to play catchup.” Except that didn’t happen either. Spieth made just three birdies Friday. He lost his share of the lead and finished with a 2-under 70, three behind K.H. Lee. There was little wind when he and longtime friends Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris started play. Spieth hoped for a score around 5 under. That, the Dallas native and resident thought, would keep him at the top of the leaderboard for the weekend at the tournament where he made his first PGA TOUR start when he was 16 years old. But after a birdie on his fifth hole, Spieth stalled. He fought with his patience as he made par after par after par. The putter didn’t cooperate, either. The longest putt he holed was from 11 feet 2 inches on No. 1, his 10th hole. It was for par. “I just had plenty of looks,” Spieth said. “I didn’t make many putts at all today.” It was nothing like Thursday, when he made seven birdies and an exhilarating eagle on the par-5 18th. A substantial share of the 12,500 spectators on the course committed to following the group of three old rivals from the North Texas PGA section junior tour, many of them cheering robustly when Spieth made another putt or saved another stroke or tested the odds, as he did in spectacular fashion on No. 12. After a blocked drive finished in a patch of mud behind a clump of crabgrass, Spieth and his caddie discussed their many options. His ball sat about 245 yards from the hole at the reachable par-5, but tree limbs dangled to his right, forcing him to shape a shot just so to clear a creek that runs through the property. A prudent punch seemed the logical play. But Spieth never wavered. He slammed a soaring hybrid to 10 feet from the hole. The galleries howled, and Spieth seemed invincible. Even that pure joy of playing seemed elusive Friday, he said. “I think yesterday, even when I wasn’t playing a good hole, I was kind of laughing at the miss or chunked it and laughed,” he said. “Today I had a shorter fuse.” After two consecutive birdies Thursday to go to minus 7, Spieth drove short of the green on the par-4 14th. He hit his pitch too heavy and scrambled for par, but chuckled at the mistake. On the tee of the 15th, a long par-3 over water, Spieth thinned his iron and begged for it to find the ground. When it did, he leaned on his club and smiled. That Jordan Spieth never quite made it to the course the next day. The Spieth who did wasn’t nearly as loose, sharp or forgiving. “I’ll just get some better rest tonight and then, like I said tomorrow, will be kind of a fun test,” he said. “There is no reason for me not to trust everything I’m doing. At this point, I’ve got an opportunity to contend here, and if I can get myself a chance on Sunday, that is the best prep for this tournament and also next week.”

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ORLANDO, Fla. - Tyrrell Hatton has spent some interesting stages of his life in Orlando. In 2012, he was a green mini-tour pro visiting America from England, doing his best to scratch out a living on the Hooters Tour. He lived with three roommates and was bankrolled by members of his home club at Harleyford, Move forward eight years, and Hatton showed up to the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last March hovering just outside the top 20 in the world, his stock rising. He had yet to win on the PGA TOUR. Hatton hung tough on a brutal weekend, made some hard-fought closing pars, and emerged as a champion. The trophy and winner's red cardigan (a fashionable Palmer staple) was given to Hatton on the 18th green in front of an amphitheater filled with thousands of fans. It would be the last tournament contested on the PGA TOUR - and one of the last sporting events staged anywhere - without COVID-19 restrictions. Five days later at THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA TOUR would shut down for three months. This week's Arnold Palmer Invitational will be played in front of a limited gallery, estimated at 4,000-5,000 people a day. Hatton looks forward to any level of atmosphere that fans can provide after competing in near silence for months. "We've missed the fans," he said. "That's normally such a huge part of every tournament, the atmosphere that they create. The buzz on a Sunday afternoon is something we've all been used to. We love that. I just think having fans back again in any capacity is going to be a great thing for the TOUR." Winning at Bay Hill last March sparked a torrid run for Hatton. When he resumed play after a 15-week break, Hatton finished T3 and T4 in his first two starts (RBC Heritage and Rocket Mortgage Classic). Since June, he posted his fifth and sixth European Tour victories - the BMW PGA Championship last fall and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January - amid a handful of other top-10 worldwide finishes. With his financial windfall, Hatton purchased a residence at Lake Nona, about 20 minutes from Bay Hill. It's a long way from where he started, playing mini-tours in town. Somewhat quietly, Hatton will tee it up at Bay Hill as the sixth-ranked player in the world (he was fifth last week). Among Europeans, only Spain's Jon Rahm (second) is ranked higher, and Hatton is a lock to play in his second Ryder Cup in September. (European captain Padraig Harrington called Hatton "a Ryder Cup dream.") "For me, I look at it as kind of surreal," said Hatton, who hails from Marlow in County Buckinghamshire. "I don't sort of change anything with my routine, or think of myself any differently. I try to go to every single tournament and try my best when I get there, and if you are able to play good golf, the world rankings is a byproduct of that." At World No. 6, does he believe he will keep climbing? "It's really cool to be where I'm at in the World Rankings at the moment, and I'm hoping I can keep playing well," he said. "It would be nice to try to get higher. We'll see how we go." Hatton, who doesn't turn 30 until October, often gets left off the list of the game's top twentysomethings. He has many strengths in his game, and few weaknesses. For starters, few players hit it any straighter, and that helps Hatton create plenty of quality approaches (he ranked fourth in 2019-20 in Strokes Gained: Approach The Green) and birdie opportunities. He averaged 4.55 birdies a round last season, second best on TOUR. Hatton also ranked 10th in scoring (69.50) and finished seventh in the FedExCup standings despite making only 11 PGA TOUR starts (he finished top 10 in six of them). He is the complete package, with a swing honed by his father, Jeff Hatton, an instructor and clubfitter who build a makeshift golf studio in the garage at Tyrrell's grandmother's house in England. (Jeff Hatton is a busy man these days; golfers are asked to book lessons at least a week ahead.) When Tyrrell's swing feels a little off, which is rare these days, he sends off video to his father to have a look. They often return to discussing the very basics. Hatton will readily admit that nobody is tougher on Tyrrell Hatton than Tyrrell Hatton. Some of his post-shot antics in the fairways and histrionics after missed putts are the stuff of YouTube legend, on both sides of the pond. ("We all know what the sound is when the teapot is ready," NBC's Paul Azinger quipped as Hatton double-bogeyed a hole during last year's API.) David Feherty made the astute observation that Hatton is nice to everybody but himself. Hatton even participated in a European Tour video spoof titled "Angry Golfers," a group session led by fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood. The entertaining spot is funny and quite clever, and has received rave reviews. In it, a sheepish Hatton, newest group member, keeps his head bowed as he shamefully introduces himself thusly: "I'm Tyrrell, and I'm an angry golfer." A playful collection of players that includes Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Matt Wallace and Eddie Pepperell responds in concert, "Hi, Tyrrell." "It was good fun filming," Hatton said. He laughed. "If there was an ‘outtakes' video released, I think that would be even better. It was great it went down so well, and got such a great reaction." The funny part is, as combustible and emotional as Hatton can be on the golf course, he is known as a low-key, very funny, sweet young man off it. Rest assured, all his peers know he is loaded with game. "He's always been a really good player, and I think he himself has held himself back," Poulter, Hatton's fellow Englishman, said at the Puerto Rico Open. "Like we've all said. I think he's now getting out of his own way, and he's playing great golf. He's got a good caddie on the bag - my old, old caddie, Mick (Donaghy) - who is a real good caddie. He is a strong personality, which someone like Tyrrell needs on the bag. "As we've seen, he's overly vocal, but a good guy - a great guy - off the golf course. Real easy-going, a super kid to hang around with. And his consistency has been impressive." A year ago, playing in demanding, firm conditions at Bay Hill - the final round scoring average was 76 - Hatton closed with seven pars to shoot 74 and prevail. He hit great approaches into 17 (whistling a 5-iron past a back flag) and 18 (7-iron safely over the Devil's Bathtub) to set up stress-free pars and his first TOUR victory. His 4-under 284 was the highest winning score in the 42-year history of the API. "For me to get my first PGA TOUR win at Bay Hill, it's such an iconic venue, and having Mr. Palmer's name attached is a huge honor," Hatton said. "What he did for golf is incredibly special, and his legacy lives on. As a player, it's definitely an event on the schedule that you always look forward to playing, and I definitely look forward to defending the trophy." For a self-admitted "Angry Golfer," these days, Hatton seems to be a pretty happy guy.

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