Finisher at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES a split decision

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Forget new wave… it’s a tsunami. The U.S. Ryder Cup team, with its six rookies and eight players under 30, have opened up its biggest lead since the oldest member was still over eight years away from being born. RELATED: Day 2 recap | Pairings, preview for Sunday Singles European dominance – they had won four of the last five Ryder Cups coming into the contest – was supposed to be a scar this raw team couldn’t escape. But the young ones don’t have scars … they’re inflicting them. Captain Steve Stricker’s men extended their 6-2 opening day demolition to a 11-5 advantage at Whistling Straits as they chase down the necessary 14.5 points to reclaim the Cup from Europe. They need win only four of the 12 singles matches (three and a tie will suffice) to close the deal. While Spanish pair Sergio Garcia and world No. 1 Jon Rahm continued to show great resistance, and Irish rookie Shane Lowry found some grit Saturday afternoon, the European team was no match for a juggernaut that ran roughshod over them. All 12 of the U.S. team have now won a match and garnered at least one point while elder statesman Dustin Johnson, at 37, is undefeated with a 4-0-0 record. Should he win his Singles match he will join Arnold Palmer (1967), Gardner Dickinson (1967) and Larry Nelson (1979) as the only Americans to go 5-0-0 in Ryder Cup history. After winning the morning Foursomes session 3-1 the U.S. was in control and while for a brief moment in the afternoon Four-ball session Europe was ahead or tied in all four matches, a 2-2 split confirmed the 11-5 score line. Bryson DeChambeau and rookie Scottie Scheffler turned their match against Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland from a deficit to a win late in proceedings – a significant result given that teams trailing 10-6 have come back to win in the past. Europe famously did so in 2012 at Medinah and the U.S. had their own miracle from that position in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline. The last time it was this lopsided was when Europe led by the same margin on the way to a 18.5-9.5 rout at Oakland Hills in 2004. The last time the U.S. led by six or more points was when they destroyed Great Britain and Ireland 21-11 in 1975 having led 12.5-3.5 heading to Singles. Since continental Europe joined the competition in 1979 no winning team has reached 19 points. Europe’s 2004 score line was matched again in 2006 while the U.S. winning record is the same margin over that period having hit 18.5-9.5 in 1981. This team shows no signs of backing off the gas pedal and might yet make history. In a tense day’s play there were numerous heated moments as players debated rulings, and non-conceded putts while the partisan American crowd was particularly raucous. Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger, sitting in the afternoon, implored them to get louder still. They even joined them and chugged a beer. “They are playing with some freedom. They are having a great time. So it’s good to see,” Stricker said. The confidence spilling out of the young Americans was obvious for all to see. And to be fair, they earned it by playing some incredible golf. “Personally I thought we could have gone 4-0 (in the afternoon). But getting 2-2 and just staying in the same place, the lead that we have created is huge. We haven’t had this good of an opportunity in a long time and hopefully we can get the job done tomorrow,” DeChambeau said. “We have the best players in the world and they have got a lot of the best players in the world too but I would say from the standpoint of average ranking, I think we’re pretty solid and we just have to play our game tomorrow.” DeChambeau is right. While the Europeans have the world No. 1, the U.S team boasts those ranked 2-7, 9-11, 13, 16 and 21. After Rahm at 1, Europe’s next best are Hovland at 14 and Rory McIlroy at 15. McIlroy has gone 0-3-0 this week – a devastating predicament for his side. “Obviously disappointing not to contribute a point for the team yet,” McIlroy said. “Hopefully just go out tomorrow and try my best to get a point, and hopefully we can rally and at last give them something to sweat about tomorrow in the middle of the afternoon.” His fellow teammates were also refusing to throw in the towel. They know they’ll need an historic effort, but 18-hole match play can always throw up left field results. “We’re still not out of it. It’s a long day tomorrow, 12 matches. If any 12 of us were going out against any of them in the match play (tournament), we would fancy our chances. We just have to believe. It’s all about believing,” Lowry said after burying an 11-foot par putt on the 18th hole to win his match. “I read a quote last night and it was – if you’ve got a 1 percent chance, you have to have 100 percent faith. And I just think that we really need to live by that tonight and tomorrow and go out and give it our best.” Rahm, who is undefeated going 3-0-1 (3-0 with Garcia), has been a shining light for his team. But he can only do so much. “From what I hear, the team is playing good. Just putts not dropping in and a couple things here and there that haven’t happened,” Rahm said. “I’d like to believe that things even out. So tomorrow, if we get off to a good start, kind of like what happened in 2012, and things start going our way, you never know. “Golf is a very complicated and ironic and sarcastic game sometimes, and teams can be capable of some great things, like the U.S. has done so far the last two days. It could be our chance, and I know everybody on the team is going to give it their all and give that a run.” Captain Padraig Harrington will need to revive the spirits of 2012 in the team room tonight – with the help of McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Garcia and Lee Westwood who were all part of the side. While Harrington was not there, his vice-captains Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell were. With their hand forced Europe will send its stars out early in a bid to gain some momentum. McIlroy has been given a shot at redemption by leading the order where he will play against Xander Schauffele. He is followed by Lowry (v Cantlay), Rahm (v Scheffler) and Garcia (v DeChambeau) the inform players for the visitors. “They have to just go out there and win their own individual match. There’s nothing more they can do than that,” Harrington said. “They have to focus on that and not look at that bigger picture and focus on their individual self and play their game and win that and then just see how it adds up.” As brash and confident as they are, the Americans insist they’ll come out without a shred of complacency. “We go into it with the mindset that we don’t have a lead; that we are at level and go fight for every point. That was the message last night, and I think it played out well for us today,” DeChambeau said. Stricker was playing in the 2012 team under Captain Davis Love III. Love is one of his vice-captains at Whistling Straits this week. At Medinah they took the ire of many in the final wash up for – among other things – putting Tiger Woods in the anchor slot despite the big lead. “We learned a lot of lessons from 2012,” Stricker said. “Probably the thing I can say is that we didn’t do a good job putting our lineup out on Sunday. Not that we took it for granted by any stretch of the imagination, but we just could have done better with it. “And that was on our mind here today. We think about our past mistakes, and we are trying to learn from them and see what we can do to try and improve on them, and that was definitely one of the things that we were talking about up there tonight.” This time around Stricker has opened with Olympic Gold medalist Schauffele and recent FedExCup winning Cantlay – who are both undefeated this week. He has his other top point getters, Johnson and Collin Morikawa, at slot five and six to counter the top-heavy European line up. Johnson is the only current American player who felt the sting at Medinah. He won’t allow for it to happen again. He will play against Paul Casey in the middle of the Singles order, in a prime position to perhaps garner the clinching point. “We’ve still got to go out, and everybody needs to play well. We’ve still got to get three and half points. We know it’s not over,” Johnson said. “I will give my all to them, and I know they will do the same thing for me.” Surf’s up.

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TPC Sawgrass demands every part of your game be on point. There is no bias for bombers, or lefties, or precision putters. To win THE PLAYERS, you need everything to show up in some form or fashion. As such, momentum coming into the event is a critical factor. With the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard wrapped up, it’s time take a look at some of those players heading to Pete Dye’s masterpiece in the right direction. Related: Featured Groups | Nine things to know about TPC Sawgrass | Pete Dye: The genius who loathed plans 1. Rory McIlroy – The defending PLAYERS champion may well have played his final three rounds at Bay Hill over par, but he was not alone. What he did do was finish in fifth place, making it six for six for the current FedExCup champion and World No. 1 in top-five finishes on the PGA TOUR this season. McIlroy was third at the ZOZO Championship in Japan, won the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in China, finished third at the Farmers Insurance Open, and then recorded fifth-place finishes in his last three starts at The Genesis Invitational, World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. A year ago, THE PLAYERS was also his seventh start of the season, and he showed up at TPC Sawgrass on the back of five consecutive top-six results. You might say he’s trending again. “There’s a lot of similarities between the start of this year and the start of last year. A lot of chances not converting, but knowing that the game’s pretty much there,â€� McIlroy says. “My win percentage on TOUR is like 10 percent and I think that’s pretty high for anyone not being Tiger Woods. So it’s one of those things. I’ve had chances and I wish I had converted one of them over the last few weeks, but I’m still in good form. I’m playing some good golf. And hopefully if I just keep putting myself in those positions, it’s only a matter of time.â€� 2. The Englishmen – No Englishmen has won THE PLAYERS Championship, but the country’s top players might be in the best collective shape to break that drought yet. Tyrrell Hatton showed tremendous mettle to hold it together in tough conditions at Bay Hill to claim his first PGA TOUR victory to go with his four European Tour wins. A week earlier, Tommy Fleetwood was in contention down the stretch until a water ball on the 72nd hole at The Honda Classic. Matt Fitzpatrick was the only player on the weekend at Bay Hill to post a round in the 60s, with his 69 on Sunday. Then there are others with strong pedigree like Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Danny Willett and Matt Wallace who will also be ready to give it their all. “Time will tell. It’s hard to kind of think about next week at the moment with the sort of potential celebrations we have got later today. I don’t think I’ll be in any fit state at least until Wednesday,â€� Hatton smiled. “But next week’s going to be interesting and hopefully an Englishman can finally win that trophy.â€� 3. Bryson DeChambeau – The bulked up Bryson had a few pundits snickering when he finished in 52nd place at the Waste Management Phoenix Open early last month. Some said his body transformation would be the death of his game. But since then, DeChambeau has finished fifth at The Genesis Invitational, runner-up at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he led the field in Driving Distance (301.8 yards) and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+7.200). “I drove it pretty well this week, besides a couple holes out here today. And for me that’s a true testament of how hard I’ve been working on my driving to get it right, and then iron play is getting slowly better, and putting, I’m still not there with,â€� DeChambeau says. “I had two three-putts today and that really was the deciding factor for the total round of shooting a deep one out there today. But at the same point in time, I’m going to take a lot of good positives away from this and go into THE PLAYERS with some great momentum.â€� 4. Collin Morikawa – The new leader on the PGA TOUR for consecutive cuts made now faces a huge test to keep it going. The 23-year-old has made 21 straight cuts, including all 20 of his professional starts on the PGA TOUR, to top the list. He already has a win to his name at last season’s Barracuda Championship, but now faces his first trip to Sawgrass. His T9 at Bay Hill, a third top-10 this season, leaves him feeling like a first-timer who can make a splash. “I want to get to the next level of contending every week, not just making cuts and finishing whatever,â€� Morikawa said. “For me, it’s what can I pinpoint, where can I save a shot or two or three through the tournament, because it really matters out here. It makes a big difference.â€� 5. Sungjae Im – Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year in 2018. PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in 2019. International team Presidents Cup star last December. Winner of The Honda Classic and a third-place finisher at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Despite a missed cut at TPC Sawgrass on debut last season, this is one young star you should not sleep on.

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Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the Genesis Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Even Money Bubba Watson, the 54-hole leader after his 65 (-6) in Round 3 in 2018, also won this event in 2014 and 2016. After surviving the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game last night, the lefty opened with eagle 3 at the first hole and never looked back. His 65 was tied second-best total in Round 3. When making the cut at Riviera, he’s never finished worse than T17 in six other tries so I wouldn’t expect a regression tomorrow. He held the 54-hole lead by one here in 2016 and held off Dustin Johnson and a crew of others so he knows how to close the deal. Cameron, Champ Cameron Champ was the 2018 Charley Sifford Memorial Exemption for this week but missed the cut. Cameron Tringale missed the cut for the first time in eight tries. Australian Cameron Smith matched Watson’s 65 and moved up 12 spots to T3. This is his third consecutive year at Riviera and his last two rounds are his best of the 11 he’s played. He’ll begin Sunday two shots out of the lead after his second bogey-free round this week (Round 1). He’ll lean on his short game and the good vibes from his win at the Australian PGA in December. Na or Never It’s been awhile for Kevin Na, 2011 to be exact, since his last trip to the winner’s circle. He was up for the fight in Round 3 as he posted 67 (-4) that included an eagle to open and a double bogey-bogey combo on the back nine. He persevered with two birdies and three pars in his final five holes and it also just two back. Na is looking to improve on his T4 from last year and to pick up his first top 10 since the Dell Technologies Championship last Labor Day. Former Winners Dustin Johnson shot 64, again, just like he did in Round 3 last year, and posted the lowest round of the day. Gamers are rejoicing as he was the most-selected player in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO and the most-selected player in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. After moving up 45 spots to T8, he’ll probably need one more 64 to defend his title but WE HAVE HOPE, PEOPLE! … Aaron Baddeley won the 2011 edition as Kevin Na and Fred Couples joined him in the final group. He’s also T8 after a 68-67 Friday-Saturday combo. … Two-time champ Phil Mickelson moved up 13 spots to T13 after 67. He’s looking to paint the top 10 for the third consecutive week for the first time since 2009. … James Hahn, the dragon slayer in the playoff from 2015, sits T16. That Watson guy is doing well too… Moving Day Canadian Adam Hadwin tweeted … that he was packed up and ready to go home before sliding into the weekend on the number after 70-74. He took advantage of his second wind and signed for 66, moving up 44 spots to T20. Pro gamers will point out he was one of Rob Bolton’s Sleepers this week and that he’s never finished worse than T34 in three prior starts. … Talor Gooch has been in this column plenty a few times already as the rookie has posted eight cuts in 10 tries. His 67 pushed him up 33 to T20 as he looks to improve on his best finish of the season, T16. Moving Day: Wrong Way After plaudits for Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Austin Cook yesterday, I’m forced to backtrack. The Spaniard fired 73 to drop from T10 to T37 and Cook matched his score and his drop, as he moved from T15 to T42. You’re on your own tomorrow! … Martin Kaymer had one of the three, bogey-free rounds after 36 holes. He made up for lost time today with six squares and a 75, dropping 39 spots to T54. … Chez Reavie couldn’t stop the bleeding after a 76 in Round 2 as he threw up a pair of hockey sticks (77) in Round 3 and currently sits last. Finding Rory After completing two rounds in the circus with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas and lurking at T15, McIlroy couldn’t get anything going in Round 3. His 73 included only half of the fairways and half of the greens as he slid 10 shots out of the lead (T42). He scrambled at just over 55 percent but was only successful once from four tries in the bunker. He lost strokes on the poa annua greens for the third day in a row as well. I’m hoping the earlier tee time and frustration push him to air it out Sunday. He stays in my lineup. Study Hall Morgan Hoffmann withdrew during Round 2 but no reason has been given. Hoffmann announced that he was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy late in 2017 but has been playing a full, normal schedule. Stay tuned. … Haotong Li aced No. 6 and the sponsor exemption is currently T26. If you’re not familiar with him, don’t be last to the party. … There are eight players who have made five bogeys or less thru 54 holes. Of those eight players, seven reside T8 or better. The outlier is T13. Par is a good score this week!

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