Francesco Molinari’s masterful mistake-free week at Quicken Loans National

Tom Lehman played in ten Buick Open’s dating back to his first in 1983 so he knows exactly what Warwick Hills offers – a lot of birdie opportunities. It led to a bunched leaderboard at the top that includes Lehman after he sank a 7-foot birdie on 18 to get in the clubhouse at 10-under par. After a second straight 5-under, 67, he’ll try to protect his spot at the top heading into Sunday. “There’s so many guys close and there’s so many good scores being shot, the guys are bunched up here at the top,â€� said Lehman, who won The Open Championship in 1996. “I think when you’re in or near the lead, that’s really good.  Whether you’re tied for the lead or a shot behind or two shots behind, you know, it’s all the same.â€� Lehman will go for his 12th PGA TOUR Champions victory. He won the Principal Charity Classic in early June. Lehman was sharp on Saturday with six birdies and just one bogey. He’s made just two bogeys through 36 holes. The five-time PGA TOUR winner shares the lead with Scott McCarron and Jeff Maggert heading into the final round. The leaders will play together starting at 1:35 p.m. “If you drive it well, you’re going to be able to attack pins, and the greens are so perfect, you’re going to make putts.  Scores tend to be low here and there’s going to be a lot of guys shooting low, so there’s the possibility for fireworks tomorrow.â€� Maggert will aim for his first win since the 2015 DICK’S Sporting Goods Open and will be relying on his 14 years playing the Buick Open at Warwick Hills. “I did play a lot of good rounds here in the Buick Open days, so looking for one more good round tomorrow.  I feel like I left a good one out there today, so hopefully I’ll make it up tomorrow.â€� Scott McCarron Notes • It’s the second time he shot 63 in his last three rounds, as he won the Shaw Charity Classic after carding a 7-under 63 on Sunday. • Should he go on to win, McCarron would be the first player to win back-to-back events since Bernhard Langer, who did it twice in 2017. • Entering this week, McCarron has four wins in nine tries when he starts the final round as a leader/co-leader. He is 0-for-2 when in that position this year (T3/KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, T4/Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship). • All eight of McCarron’s wins on PGA TOUR Champions have been by one stroke or by playoff. In two of his victories, he opened with a score in the 70s (70/2018 American Family Insurance Championship, 71/2017 DICK’S Sporting Goods Open). • McCarron will play in Sunday’s final group for the fifth time in 20 starts this season. Mark O’Meara Notes • O’Meara started on No. 10 and birdied seven of his first eight holes en route to a 6-under 30. The round of 8-under 64 is one off his career-best on PGA TOUR Champions, and it’s his best score since he shot 7-under 64 at the 2016 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship. •    His career-low round in 18 starts at the Buick Open was 64 (R3/1984), and his best finish was T2 in 2002. • O’Meara is the fifth-oldest player in the field (he will be 61 years, 8 months, 3 days on Sunday). Should he go on to win, he would be the seventh-oldest winner in PGA TOUR Champions history. Entering this week, 19 players have won 26 tournaments at the age of 60 or older. • O’Meara has two career wins on PGA TOUR Champions, the last being the 2010 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. If he wins Sunday, it would mark the second-longest gap between victories in Tour history (7 years, 11 months, 6 days). • In 13 starts this year, his best finish was T13 at the Regions Tradition and Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, and he is currently 66th in the Charles Schwab Cup To come play on the PGA TOUR Champions and finish 40th or 50th is not my cup of tea. Now, I have to go out and practice, come out and compete a little more and that’s my goal for next year.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – A day after fighting to remain on the fringe of contention, Tiger Woods’ chances of an improbable Masters victory were ended by his putting struggles Saturday at Augusta National. Woods used his putter three times on six different holes and also had the second four-putt of his Masters career en route to a 6-over 78. He sits at 7-over 223 as Scottie Scheffler continues to impress at Augusta National. The 78, which included 36 putts, is his worst score ever at Augusta National. The 36 putts are tied for the second-most in a single round in his PGA TOUR career. “It was cold starting out. The ball wasn’t going very far. I thought it was tough. Some of the other guys may not say that, but for me I had a tough time. I felt like I didn’t really hit it hit it that bad,” Woods said. “I hit 1,000 putts out there on the greens today and it obviously affected that score. … I did what I needed to do ball-striking wise, but I did the exact opposite on the greens.” Woods started the day nine strokes behind Scheffler but was only four shots back of second place after making four birdies in his final 10 holes Friday to salvage a 74 on a day when he made bogey on four of the first five holes. Woods’ high number of putts also resulted from his inability to get the ball close to the hole. He three-putted the first hole from 50 feet, then four-putted on the fifth hole from similarly long distance. His first four-putt at Augusta National came during his victory in 2005, after he putted into the water on the 13th hole (he hit three putts and took a penalty stroke; the number of putts to complete a hole is counted as the number of strokes to hole out once a player has reached the green). Woods also three-putted his final three holes, playing them in 4 over. “I just couldn’t find it,” he said. “Nothing seemed to work.”

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Brooks Koepka makes his first start since his share of second at the Masters, reunited with younger brother Chase as the PGA TOUR’s only two-man format conducts its third edition on the outskirts of New Orleans. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost a playoff in the Zurich’s first team edition and held the 54-hole lead last year, return again to take another crack at the elusive title. Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy are defending champions; the format calls for best-ball play Thursday and alternate-shot Friday and Sunday. FIELD WATCH: A handful of prominent pros are changing up partners this year. Henrik Stenson, who partnered with Justin Rose twice in an Olympic gold/silver partnership, loses Rose but picks up another major winner in Graeme McDowell. There’s also a new major-winning Australian duo as Adam Scott tests the team event with Jason Day. Plus, Sergio Garcia plucks Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood. … In all, five teams feature major champions on both sides of the equation. The others: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel, Jim Furyk/David Duval and Ernie Els/Trevor Immelman. … Wisconsin natives Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, both winners on PGA TOUR Champions, are back for a third run. They opted to team up in New Orleans rather than the concurrent Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the Champions circuit. … Davis Love III takes part in the team format for the first time, bringing son Dru for the event’s first father/son combination. FEDEXCUP: Winning partners receive 400 points apiece. STORYLINES: Koepka, whose bid for a third major crown in 10 months went astray with a short birdie miss at Augusta National’s 18th, gets back into the swing with the help of his brother. Chase Koepka played on the European Tour last year; they tied for fifth at Zurich in 2017. … FedExCup points are distributed as though partners tied. As an example, the champions split the 500 points usually given to a tournament winner and 300 for second place – coming out to 400 points each. … Five of the past seven editions have crowned a first-time winner, including Cameron Smith in its first year in the team format. He paired with Jonas Blixt. COURSE: TPC Louisiana, 7,425 yards, par 72. Located just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans, the Pete Dye creation invites birdies event as it meanders through some 250 acres of wetlands. Stately stands of cypress and oak trees helped form the routing for Dye and consultants Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, who added more than 100 bunkers and five more ponds to increase the difficulty. Several large waste bunkers also are featured early in the back nine. Though water looms throughout the design, TPC Louisiana ranked among the PGA TOUR’s top third to go low even before the team format was introduced. The Zurich Classic first played there in 2005 and has made it its permanent home since 2007. For those visiting the New Orleans area, must-play courses include TPC Louisiana (Avondale, La.), Lakewood GC (New Orleans) and Bayou Oaks at City Park (New Orleans). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt (2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (2017). Individual record: 262, Chip Beck (1988 at Lakewood CC). ALTERNATE SHOT RECORD: 66, Jordan Spieth/Ryan Palmer (1st round, 2017), Kyle Stanley/Ryan Ruffels (1st round, 2017). BEST BALL RECORD: 60, Retief Goosen/Tyrone van Aswegen (2nd round, 2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (4th round, 2017), Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover (1st round, 2018), Marty Dou/Xinjun Zhang (1st round, 2018). LAST YEAR: Horschel and Piercy overcame a three-shot deficit with a bogey-free 67 in alternate shot, enough to hold off Jason Dufner/Pat Perez by a stroke. Birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 propelled Horschel/Piercy to the front, holding steady with seven pars the rest of the way to finish at 22-under-par 266. Dufner had a chance to force a playoff with a 14-foot birdie putt at No.18, but couldn’t get it to drop. The victory was Horschel’s fifth on TOUR and Piercy’s fourth, with Horschel also becoming the first man to win the Zurich Classic title in both individual and team play. His first PGA TOUR win came at the 2013 edition. Kisner and Brown took a one-shot lead into the final day, but faded on the back nine on the way to a 77 that dropped them into a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Friday, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday, 12:00 to 22:30 GMT. Friday, 13:00 to 22:30. Saturday-Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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