Get to know: Takumi Kanaya

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The rounds are starting to repeat for Byeong Hun An: No bogeys, a bunch of birdies and more time atop the Wyndham Championship leaderboard. An shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the PGA TOUR’s final event before the FedExCup Playoffs. An, who was at 17-under 193, has held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds and has yet to play a hole worse than par. The 27-year-old South Korean with three international victories has put himself in position to claim his first win on TOUR. “It feels similar to yesterday, to be fair,” An said. “I had some nice shots here and there, but scrambled well today. Another bogey-free (round). I’m quite happy with it — a 66 out here, and I have a lead.” Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and Brice Garnett were tied for second, with Simpson shooting a 65 and Garnett a 66. Ryan Armour was 15 under following a 65. “One shot is basically nothing,” An said. “It’s not that big of a lead. It’s just one shot.” Overall, it was yet another low-scoring day at Sedgefield Country Club. For a while midway through An’s round, six players were tied for the lead at 13 under. “I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody shot 8, 9, 10 under, a guy who’s within striking distance,” Simpson said. “I’ve got to keep the pedal down, and if I don’t shoot a low one, I’m not going to win.” An started to get some separation from the crowd with three birdies in the four-hole span from Nos. 5-8, moving to 16 under. Then came his best shot of the day, a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th. He closed with four straight pars. Simpson — a native North Carolinian who named his daughter Wyndham after his first career victory came here in 2011 — strung together three birdies around a bogey midway through his back nine to move to 16 under. If nothing else, he’s in good position to claim his fifth top-10 finish in six years at this tournament. Garnett made the turn at 15 under following back-to-back birdies, then rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th to pull even with Simpson and saved par on the 18th after rolling his third shot from a greenside bunker to within 3 feet from the flagstick. “I was just trying to get the putt (on 17) somewhere around the hole,” Garnett said. “Fortunately, the putt had some eyes and drifted in. Huge momentum going into tomorrow.” Armour climbed into contention with six birdies in a 10-hole stretch midway through his round that put him two strokes back. And Viktor Hovland finished his season-best round with a birdie on the 18th after landing his 150-yard approach shot some 3 feet from the flagstick. He was tied for fifth with J.T. Poston and Paul Casey at 14 under. After winning the U.S. Amateur last year, Hovland turned pro two months ago after tying for 12th at the U.S. Open. “I just try to tell myself that I don’t have anything to lose,” Hovland said. “I’ll be on the Korn Ferry Tour no matter what happens kind of unless I play really well tomorrow, and to be in the spot where I am right now after college, that’s a pretty good spot to be in.” It wasn’t a low-scoring day for everyone, though: Jordan Spieth had three double-bogeys and a bogey during a birdie-free 77 that left him at 2 under for the tournament. It came two days after he flirted with a career-best round, putting just 23 times during his first-round 64. “I putted my (butt) off for two days to be able to be where I was at, and you can’t exactly fix your ball striking in a day,” Spieth said. “It’s just too much to try and force it. So this extra day could serve me really well through the playoffs.”

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Through two rounds at The Open Championship, Cameron Smith leads by two strokes, highlighted by an 8-under 64 in Friday’s second round. But there are plenty of top players right behind him, which will make for a great weekend of live golf betting. There are plenty of options this weekend for golf betting at the BetMGM online sportsbook, including some special prop bets for some leaders heading into Saturday’s third round. Smith (-13) leads Cameron Young (-11) by two shots and then Rory McIlroy (-10) and Viktor Hovland (-10) by three shots. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (-8) sits five shots back after back-to-back 68s. Let’s break down the numbers on the props to see if there’s value to be found. Birdie the first hole: Rory McIlroy (+275), Cameron Smith (+275), Scottie Scheffler (+275) The par-4 first hole played slightly over par in the first two rounds, yielding 55 birdies to 37 bogeys and 45 scores of double-bogey or worse. Specific to the three players, McIlroy and Smith made one birdie against one par on the hole in the first two rounds, while Scheffler made a bogey in Friday’s second round after making par on Thursday. To shoot 68 or lower: Rory McIlroy (+110), Scottie Scheffler (+120), Cameron Smith (+130) Shooting 68 or lower means going 4-under or better at St. Andrews. All three players have done this through the first two rounds so far this week. In third-round scoring this year, Smith and Scheffler have the advantage over McIlroy. Scheffler ranks third on TOUR this year in third-round scoring, Smith is eighth and McIlroy is 115th. To make an eagle: Rory McIlroy (+900), Cameron Smith (+900), Scottie Scheffler (+900) With only two par-5s at St. Andrews, there are limited eagle chances. Some of par-4s are drivable depending on wind direction, but the par-5 fifth hole and par-5 14th hole will be the best opportunity. There have been 26 eagles in the first two rounds, 12 of which came on the fifth and 14th holes. Smith is the only one of the three players to make an eagle this week (14th hole on Friday). 6 or more birdies/eagles: Rory McIlroy (+100), Scottie Scheffler (+105), Cameron Smith (+110) McIlroy and Smith have accomplished this in both rounds this week, while Scheffler has made five birdies/eagles to one bogey in both of his rounds. For the year, all three players rank high in birdies per round. Smith ranks second (4.7), Scheffler third (4.66), and McIlroy sixth (4.39). Bogey free: Rory McIlroy (+900), Scottie Scheffler (+1000), Cameron Smith (+1100) Smith is the only player of the three to have a bogey-free round this week, which came on Friday. Scheffler has made one each day, while McIlroy made one Thursday and two on Friday. In bogey avoidance this year, Scheffler is 18th, McIlroy 24th, and Smith T-57th. * Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. BetMGM is available in AZ, CO, DC, IA, IN, IL, LA, MI, MS, NJ, NV, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, or WY only. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Paid in free bets. Free bets expire in 7 days from issuance. Minimum deposit required. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO, DC, LA, NV, WY, VA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-GAMBLER (IN, NJ, PA & WV), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA) or call (877-8-HOPENY) or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), call or text the Tennessee REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN) or call 1-888-777-9696 (MS). Sports betting is void where prohibited. Promotional offers not available in Nevada.

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There were nights when his parents wouldn’t eat so he could, tournament directors who accepted an IOU in lieu of an entry fee, and utility bills that went unpaid. RELATED: Q & A with Vasicki So the moment was choked with emotion when Sarasota mini-tour pro Michael Visacki, 27, Monday-qualified into this week’s Valspar Championship and called home to break the news. “I made it,” he croaks amid the tears, his father alternately cheering and crying. The hundreds of thousands of miles driven on his 2010 Honda Accord. The job cleaning carts. The ball that got stuck in a tree and led to a heartbreaking double bogey in the second stage of Q School in 2019. Visacki, who still lives at home with his parents, has come a long way to arrive at his first PGA TOUR start since turning pro in 2014, and the viral video shows just how long. “Just a lot of people give up on their dreams, probably because they can’t afford it,” Visacki said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, when he was again overcome by emotion as he tried to explain the public’s reaction to his emerging story. “But I’ve been lucky enough to be with my parents and been able to help me out sometimes to keep living it.” Visacki is an only child. His parents, Mike and Donna, own a transport company that ships wheelchairs and stretchers and have done so for about 16 or 17 years. Michael showed great talent as a junior golfer, but developing that talent sometimes proved too costly. “Tournaments would want us to register about two weeks in advance to know that they had so many players in,” he said. “And sometimes money was tight where my parents would call the director and be like, ‘Do you mind putting my son in? I’ll have the money for you when we get to the event.’ And they knew that I was a really good junior golfer, so they would accept that, they would waive that restriction for me back in the junior days.” And Visacki was good. Having played tennis as a boy, he switched to golf at age 8, inspired by his dad. He grew so big and strong the Riverview High School football coach wanted to put him on the offensive line, but Visacki said no, he was a golfer. The coach soon realized he was right. Visacki played one year for the University of Central Florida, then turned pro. Playing 30-45 tournaments a year, he racked up 37 victories on the West Florida Pro Golf Tour and made his reputation as a big-time talent. He qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2018 Kansas City Golf Classic and finished T27. He lived at home to save money and bought a used Honda Accord he’s since driven 170,000 miles, at one point driving to Utah and back. He tried “six or seven” Monday qualifiers, but the closest he had come before this week was missing a playoff by a shot. Keep your head down, his dad told him. Keep grinding. “Because he knew that I had it,” Visacki said. He worked in the cart barn and pro shop at Serenoa Golf Club in Sarasota to make ends meet, sometimes closing the pro shop at 5, 6 o’clock and then hustling out onto the course to chase the sun. Never, he said, did he consider quitting. Not even after his ball got stuck in the tree to derail his Q School hopes by one shot in 2019, an agonizing close call that nearly broke him. “I don’t know how I was able to even drive,” he said of his somber ride home. His dream of playing his way into the Valspar almost fizzled when his tee shot stopped just short of going into a bush on the first extra hole. He chipped out sideways and got up and down from 107 yards and survived when Chris Baker missed his birdie putt. Visacki had his own birdie try from 20 feet on the second extra hole. “The first thing I was like, man, I have a chance to, if I make this putt I’m playing, I’m going to be playing in the Valspar,” he said. “But after that I was like, OK, I got to not think about that, I got to think about putting the best stroke possible, picking out a good line with me and my caddie and we picked out a great line and I hit the spot and it went in the hole.” Visacki embraced his caddie Kaylor Steger, a friend and fellow pro, and broke down. Then came the freighted phone call, and the viral video, and his reputation quickly growing far beyond all those mini-tour victories. Of his chances at establishing a foothold on the Korn Ferry Tour and/or PGA TOUR, and finally being able to make a decent living as a golfer, Visacki said, “I mean I think it’s just trying to get one percent better every day. I feel like I’m not that far off.” He added, not without ample evidence, “I know I’m capable of doing it.” For the Valspar’s newest fan favorite, the dream is coming together right before our eyes.

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