FedExCup update: Will Flores do it again?

DUBLIN, Ohio — Daniel Summerhays shot a 4-under 68 that took him from a five-shot deficit to a three-shot lead Saturday in the Memorial. More than his solid round was a collapse by Jason Dufner, who lost his lead with four straight bogeys on the front nine and hit two balls in the water on the back nine for a 77. Dufner went from the 36-hole record to four shots out of the lead. At least he’s still in the game, and he has plenty of company. Summerhays was at 13-under 203. Matt Kuchar, who won the Memorial four years ago, ran off three straight birdies on the back nine and shot a 67 that gets him in the final group with Summerhays as he tries to end 82 PGA TOUR starts without a victory. The last three winners of the Memorial had never won on the PGA TOUR, and Summerhays fits that mold. The 33-year-old from Utah is in his seventh year. Bubba Watson overcame a heckler on the 18th hole with one last birdie for a 68. He was four shots behind along with Justin Thomas (69) and Dufner. Rickie Fowler (72) salvaged an up-and-down day and was five behind. But it all started with Dufner. “Today was pretty pathetic on all accounts, so have to play better tomorrow,” he said. It started on the second hole when Dufner missed the green to the left from the rough and took bogey. He missed a 6-foot par putt on the third, then hit into the right bunker on the par-3 4th and made another bogey. And then he three-putted the par-5 fifth for a fourth straight bogey. Dufner was still tied for the lead when his wedge on the par-5 11th spun back down the green and into the water, leading to double bogey. It was a three-shot swing when Summerhays made birdie, and Dufner never caught up. He had said his breathing exercises over putting didn’t mean he would always have good days, and this was a bad one. Dufner had a pair of three-putts, and he twice missed birdie putts from 6 feet. He capped off his day by pulling his tee shot into the water and making another bogey. “The tournament is not over,” Dufner said. “It will be over tomorrow.” Summerhays wasn’t thinking about cutting into the lead when he started. He wasn’t thinking much about anything except the shot at hand, and he kept hitting good ones in the midst of Dufner’s streak of bogeys. “A train wreck can happen at any moment,” Summerhays said. “And that’s why it’s such a great golf course because it does test everything. Legitimately from the first hole to the 18th hole, there’s a double bogey somewhere in there.” Jordan Spieth knows the feeling. He was right in the mix until catching a downhill like in the bunker left of the par-3 eighth. He tried to play a perfect shot and barely got it out, then chipped down to 5 feet and missed the putt, making double bogey. Spieth started the back nine with two straight birdies only to follow with two straight bogeys. It added to a 71, and he was six shots behind.

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LAS VEGAS — Robert Streb went from making putts to wondering if he would ever miss Thursday in THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT. It led to his best start to any tournament and his lowest score on the PGA TOUR. RELATED: Leaderboard | Adam Scott’s new Titleist irons ‘one of one’ And on this day at The Summit Club, his 11-under 61 was only good for a one-shot lead. A world-class field lit up a very pretty and mostly defenseless golf course overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. The result was the lowest average score — 68.95 — for the opening round on the PGA TOUR all year. Streb had 10 birdies and an eagle and led by one shot over Keith Mitchell, who had more birdies than pars in matching his low round with a 62. Harry Higgs was at 64, while the group at 65 included Sergio Garcia and Viktor Hovland. Such scoring in ideal conditions was what players were expecting on this Tom Fazio desert course, and Streb wasted little time proving it. He started with a pair of 6-foot birdie putts and followed with a 12-footer for eagle. When he walked off the par-5 sixth hole after a long two-putt for birdie, he already was 7-under par. “I’ve never had a start like that, so it was kind of fun,” Streb said. “I was trying to stay in the moment the best I can, and I don’t know. You just feel like you can start aiming at stuff. Things seemed to be going my way.” Streb broke by two shots his previous low score on the PGA TOUR, one of those 63s in the PGA Championship at rain-soaked Baltusrol in 2016. But while low scores were plentiful — 25 players at 67 or lower — so was trouble if anything left the emerald green fairways. Consider how it must have felt for Justin Rose. Two holes into the tournament, he already was 10 shots behind. Rose came up short of the par-3 second green into a native area of mostly rocks and some sand. He tried to play it and the ball ricocheted off a stone wall into a desert bush. His only option was to take a penalty drop — but where? Going back on a line with the hole, he found a fairly sparse area only to duff it toward the wall and more rocks. After another penalty drop, he got up-and-down for a quadruple-bogey 7. It’s not as though Rose was alone in his travails. Dustin Johnson, trying to avoid only his second winless year in his 14 years on the PGA TOUR, tried to drive the 12th green and wound up in the desert. He took a drop 50 yards behind him in a lot for the next mansion and made double bogey. He made his only birdie on the back nine at the par-5 closing hole for a 74. Justin Thomas was off to a slow start and then went into reverse when he tried to play out of the desert and kept banging it off the rocks. One shot went 25 feet. Another went 30 yards into a lie so bad he had to take a penalty. Plus, his wedge had a gouge in the face, and a rules official had to fetch a replacement from his car. Thomas birdied his last three holes for a 69. Rory McIlroy was making his move until going into the desert, clanging it off rocks that led to a penalty drop and making triple bogey. He had to settle for a 68. “It’s one of those courses where if you just keep it in play, it’s obviously very scorable,” McIlroy said. “But you hit a couple just offline and you get a bad break or a little unlucky, you can make a big number and I did that on 17. But the other 17 holes were good.” All 18 holes were good for Mitchell, at least at The Summit Club. He missed the cut last week down the road at the TPC Summerlin and then spent five days working harder than most visitors to Las Vegas, and it helped that putting coach Ramon Bescansa was in town. Mitchell made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 third and was on his way. He followed with two more birdies from about that range and never let up. “When that went in with good speed, I felt like I had a chance today,” he said. Good putting goes a long way on any course. Keeping it on the grass on a course built in the desert also helps. “If you hit the fairways, you have good chances. It’s that simple,” Mitchell said. “Because if you miss the fairways, the desert is a big penalty. It just depends on luck after that. … If you get out of position out here it can bite you.” Defending champion Jason Kokrak probably wished he was back at Shadow Creek. He opened with a 77. This is the second straight year the CJ Cup has moved from South Korea to Las Vegas because of the pandemic.

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Round 3 of the Sanderson Farms Championship begins Saturday. Here’s how to follow the action. Tee times Leaderboard HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS (All times CT) Will Gordon, Steve Lewton (8:50 a.m.) Sungjae Im, Chez Reavie (9:20 a.m.) Anirban Lahiri, Brandt Snedeker (1:30 p.m.) Kevin Chappell, Sergio Garcia (1:40 p.m.) MUST READS Bradley leads by two Garcia putts with his eyes closed Daffue keeps dream in sight Lahiri headed in right direction TOUR Insider: Munoz’ evolution since Sanderson win One qualifier’s incredible survival story Stats: Hispanic players’ growing impact CALL OF THE DAY

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