Fleetwood retains Abu Dhabi crown in style

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Boo’s back. Playing in his first PGA TOUR event since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open, Boo Weekley shot a 7-under-par 65 Saturday at the Puerto Rico Open to move into the top-15 early on Moving Day. Weekley (72-73-65) was away from the PGA TOUR for nearly 18 months after being sidelined with tendinitis, which led to surgery. During his comeback, doctors discovered cancer in his shoulder. A second procedure to a remove a cyst kept him on the shelf until November 2018, when he finally started hitting balls again. Weekley has played four of the first five events on the Web.com Tour in his return to action and told reporters at the LECOM Health Classic of his cancer diagnosis. He got into the Puerto Rico Open on a Sponsor’s Exemption and has made the most of the opportunity so far. The 45-year-old started his first round 4-over through five holes, but has righted the ship since then. Weekley said he was nervous returning to the TOUR after being away for so long. “I know I need to make this cut and just I put a lot of pressure on myself right out of the gate,â€� said Weekley. “Once I got kind of calmed down out there, I went back to playing golf.â€� The three-time TOUR winner said Saturday’s round could have been even lower. He missed short birdie putts on the par-4 3rd, the par-3 16th, and the par-4 17th. The winds that had been swirling around Coco Beach Golf Club the first two days had subsided through Saturday morning. He said the key to his solid play of late has been to get straightened up at address. He sent a video to his coach last week who showed him some old videos and photos of his positioning and Weekley was able to make the adjustment. “It was kind of like one of them days you could have really got after it, you know, but then again I’m happy with what I shot,â€� said Weekley. “You can’t ever complain when you shoot under par anyway on any of these golf courses.â€� Weekley admitted he wasn’t 100 percent yet, health-wise, but he’s aiming to feel that way in about three months. “Once I get back to playing golf and still doing the same little regimen that I’ve been doing with my shoulder and my arm, elbow and stuff, I should be back to normal,â€� he explained. Weekley isn’t sure what his schedule is going to look like for the balance of 2019 – he’s planning on playing mostly Web.com Tour events but will say ‘yes’ to any PGA TOUR opportunity that comes along – but one thing is for sure: he’s just happy to be back playing again. “I feel like I can actually hit golf shots,â€� he said.

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President Donald Trump has awarded golfer Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. - Tiger Woods hasn't won or contended in over a year, his brittle back is a day-to-day proposition, and he'll turn 45 next month. He has looked old or human, take your pick. But in a PGA TOUR season that has already featured three 40-something winners (Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, Brian Gay), Thursday reminded us nothing rolls back the odometer like the Masters and Augusta National. After rain pushed back tee times three hours, five-time champion Woods, in a title defense that has been 19 months in the making, shot a no-drama, 4-under 68. RELATED: Leaderboard | Remembering the final round of the 2019 Masters "Yeah, I did everything well," Woods said after his first-ever bogey-free opening round here. "I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well. The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8. I had a perfect number with a 60-degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf." He made par on the hole. It was Woods' first bogey-free effort in his last 106 rounds in the majors, and first at Augusta National since 2008. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. "The only thing I could say is I wish I could have made a couple more putts," Woods said after taking 30 strokes on the greens. "I missed everything on the high side. Putts just aren’t moving." The added Bermuda grass in November, plus the rain, accounted for that. England's Paul Casey, 43, shot a 7-under 65 to lead the tournament. He was about to start his round when play was called on account of rain, and after a nearly three-hour delay, he played all 18 holes in postcard-perfect conditions. "That was a very good break," Casey said. Fellow Brit Lee Westwood, 47, who hadn't played here since 2017 and got in via his T4 at The Open Championship last year, made an adventurous par on 18 to sign for a 4-under 68. He's of an age, he has said, when nobody expects much from him. It's freeing. Oh, and Augusta's own Larry Mize, 62, was briefly on the leaderboard. He made six birdies and shot 70. "Experience counts a lot around here," Westwood, who has six top-10s in 18 starts here, said earlier this week. "There is definitely a knack for playing this golf course, and it’s a knack that you learn only really by playing the tournament here." The high-water mark for oldies at Augusta may forever be Jack Nicklaus winning at age 46 in 1986, but he also contended deep into the back nine in 1998, at 58. It was like an old film reel suddenly colorized and in real time. Woods mentioned that day earlier this week; if he uses Nicklaus as any kind of guide it would give him another 15 years or so to potentially win a sixth or even seventh Masters. "My body is feeling better than I did last year," he said. He proved it in the first round, when he started on the back nine and showed total command early. He'd never started the tournament on the 10th hole, nor had he ever heard a drone flying overhead, as he did absent the buzz from the patrons Thursday. "I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is," said Woods, who with one more victory would set the all-time wins record on TOUR with 83. "Everyone is going low out there today. With these conditions, you have to. You have to be aggressive. "There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags." And no reason why those who have contended in the past can't keep right on going. It's always age before beauty at Augusta National.

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