Golf: Koepka writing new Masters memory after Mickelson brush-off

PARAMUS, N.J. – Tiger Woods isn’t sure how he came to be pals with Bryson DeChambeau, who cruised to a four-shot victory over Tony Finau (68) with a final-round 69 at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club on Sunday. Perhaps the relationship was fated: one guy (Woods) who is unrivaled in his understanding of the game, and the other (DeChambeau) who is bound and determined to explain its every nuance in terms that evoke Bill Nye the Science Guy. “I don’t know,â€� said Woods (70, T40). “That’s kind of one of the weird ones, yeah. It kind of just happened. It just kind of evolved.â€� No one came closer than two shots of the winner as DeChambeau controlled his game and his emotions all day, starting with two straight birdies. Billy Horschel (68) and Cameron Smith (69) tied for third, five back. The golf world is still scratching its collective head as it gets to know the quirky DeChambeau, who won the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide earlier this season, and whose second victory of the summer, worth 2000 points, lands him at No. 1 in the FedExCup Playoffs. The winner brought a four-shot lead into the final round, saw it cut to two by surging rookie Aaron Wise (67), then steadied himself with birdies at 12 and 13 and sailed home from there. DeChambeau, who likely assured himself a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, is still just 24, so we don’t have all the answers. We know he’s different. (Single-length shafts in his irons, single-plane swing.) He’s good. (Three TOUR wins by 24 make him one of the most promising young players in America, and the world.) And that his success has not kind of just happened. (He spends more time on the range than most caged tractors.) Most of all, we know he cares. A lot. “Well, Bryson, you know … he’s very fiery,â€� Woods said. “We all know he’s extremely intelligent, but his heart, he gives it everything he has and is always trying to get better.â€� DeChambeau has made his reputation as a numbers-cruncher and science-lover who revels in the physics of the game. He is constantly talking about biomechanics, among other multi-syllabic science words, but he’s not above poking a little fun at himself. “I like the guy,â€� said Kevin Na. “If I’m playing with him, I always make sure I have a question for him to stir up his brain and see if he has the answers. Like, we were doing an MGM outing at Shadow Creek and I asked him a question about green slope. I always poke him a little, see if he’s got the answers and is as smart as he says he is. He’s a great guy, and I’m happy for him.â€� Ditto for Woods. As for their friendship, DeChambeau said he was drawn to the 14-time major winner’s excellence. “How good he is,â€� DeChambeau said of what he’s learned from the 79-time PGA TOUR winner. “I mean, I never realized the immense talent he has in regards to the feel in his hands and his ability to control the golf ball and do things that I’ve never seen before. … It’s definitely helped this year.â€� But do they speak the same language? “At times,â€� DeChambeau said. “And at times he tells me to shut up and hit the ball. It is what it is. (Laughing). It’s fun. I like to joke with him a little bit. It’s been great.â€� DeChambeau was Tiger-like in his dissection of Ridgewood, finishing T27 in driving accuracy, 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, and fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting (+6.962). “I feel a lot of the things that he says,â€� Woods said, “but we articulate it completely differently. But I understand what he’s saying. … It’s a lot of fun to needle him and give him a hard time about it, but I definitely respect what he says because of the fact that he does a lot of research. I mean, he is very into what he’s doing.â€� OBSERVATIONS WOODS’ PUTTING WOES CONTINUE: Just two weeks after he thrived on the greens in a runner-up effort at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods struggled at THE NORTHERN TRUST. After doing well just to make the 36-hole cut, he never really found anything with the putter and shot a final-round 70 to finish 4 under at Ridgewood, miles back at T40. “You know, just the way it goes,â€� said Woods, who took 35 putts in the second round and was 79th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-4.925). “You have good weeks and you have bad weeks. The greens, sometimes they look good to you. Sometimes they don’t. All of my good putts, basically, went in at Bellerive, and the bad putts lipped-out. This week, the good putts lipped-out and the bad ones didn’t have a chance. That’s the way it goes.â€� The good news for Woods is he hit 11 of 14 fairways Sunday, his best of the week. More good news: He’s won at TPC Boston, which will host the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs, the Dell Technologies Championship, starting Friday. “Well, the fact that I played a lot better than my score indicates,â€� Woods said, when asked what he would take away from his week here. “I didn’t make any birdies this week. I didn’t putt well and at the end of the day, I found a piece of my game that has been missing, which is driving it well, but you have to make putts. That’s the only way we’re going to shoot low rounds. I didn’t do it this week.â€� NA GETS HEAD IN THE GAME: Kevin Na (67, T15) hasn’t had a hat deal since before THE PLAYERS Championship, so he’s been having fun with it. For a while he wore a hat with the silhouette of a goat that he purchased at THE PLAYERS Championship, and then he switched to a “SO HIâ€� hat, signifying Southern Highlands, his home club in Las Vegas. That was the one he wore for his victory at A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier in July, his first PGA TOUR win in seven years and second overall. THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood brought a new idea for Na’s headwear, and one that was a hit with the locals: a New York Yankees cap. The idea was partly a nod to the New York area fans, but also a tip of the cap to Kenny Harms, Na’s caddie. “Kenny grew up around here, went to Paramus High, and I’m a free agent right now,â€� Na said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, why not wear a Yankees hat?’ I was like, okay. I had a gray one and a black one; it was buy one, get one half off at the store. The gray one is out because I shot four over on Friday, but this black one worked really well. “I had fun with it,â€� Na said. “A lot of fans were commenting that they liked my hat. It’s kind of nice to get the local support.â€� Na, 34, came into the week at 19th in the FedExCup, and will stay there entering the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. But as well as the black Yankees cap worked for him at Ridgewood, don’t expect him to push his luck in week two of the Playoffs. “There may be a Boston hat next week,â€� Na said with a laugh. NOTABLES PHIL MICKELSON – Struggled with accuracy off the tee, hitting just five of 14 fairways, but still fought hard for an even-par 71 and a T15 finish going into the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. “It was a good positive start (to the week),â€� he said. “Today was a struggle. I had to fight hard just to get to even. Nothing came easy.â€� BROOKS KOEPKA – Finished uneven week with a final-round 69 to wind up 11 under and T8. AARON WISE – In a tight Rookie of the Year race with Austin Cook, Wise went 6 under through 14 holes to get within two, but fell back with back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 and carded a 67 to finish 12 under and T5. JUSTIN THOMAS – Defending FedExCup champion finished strong with a final-round 68 to get to 11 under and finish T8. Shot all four rounds in the 60s but slips from second to third in the FedExCup, behind winner DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. KEEGAN BRADLEY – Played in the final group with DeChambeau but hit just 7 of 14 fairways and was 80th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-3.139) as he struggled to a 78 for T34. QUOTABLES Just really proud of how I played in the first Playoffs event.Driver kind of let me down a little bit today but nothing that can’t be fixed over the next week.I knew if I could play well … I could lock up my spot in THE TOUR Championship. I’ve done that. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 64 by Tyrell Hatton (T20) Longest drive: 379 yards, by Dustin Johnson (T11) at the fifth hole. Longest putt: 41 feet, 9 inches, by Jordan Spieth (73, T25) at the 11th hole. Fewest putts: 25, by Austin Cook, Tommy Fleetwood, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter Easiest hole: The 581-yard, par-5 17th played to a 4.613 average. Hardest hole: The 473-yard, par-4 eighth played to a 4.350 average. SHOT OF THE DAY CALL OF THE DAY

Click here to read the full article…

Golfers from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and even the maintenance staff at the Puerto Rico Open are wearing red and black on Sunday to support Tiger Woods who is recovering from a single-car accident last week. The 82-time PGA TOUR winner underwent surgery after suffering comminuted open fractures to the upper and lower sections of his right leg along with significant trauma to his ankle. Cameron Champ, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas are just a few of the TOUR players showing their support at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession. "The only thing that matters now is his well-being," PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said on Wednesday. Tiger's team tweeted, "He is now recovering and in good spirits" on Friday after follow-up procedures. "He’s a human being at the end of the day," Rory McIlroy said. "And he’s already been through so much. At this stage I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad. That’s the most important thing. Golf is so far from the equation right now, it’s not even on the map at this point." TOUR players, sports world and celebrities offered up their love and well wishes to Woods on social media.

Click here to read the full article…

BLAINE, Minn. – It’s not exactly a “Hello, worldâ€� moment but it’s close. Granted, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa didn’t turn pro with the same kind of fanfare as Tiger Woods did in 1996 when he opened his press conference at the Greater Milwaukee Open with those words. Shoot, neither of them was even born when Woods made his debut. But surging to the top of a crowded leaderboard at the 3M Open on Saturday just three starts into Wolff’s pro career and four into Morikawa’s certainly made it seem like an introduction of sorts. And the two clearly have the talent and the tools to play at the next level despite their relative youth. Wolff, who most recently made headlines when he won the NCAA individual title in May, is barely a month removed from his sophomore season at Oklahoma State. Morikawa, on the other hand, made it through all four years at Cal-Berkeley, getting his business degree just last month. In the third round of the inaugural TOUR event at TPC Twin Cities, the two twentysomethings – Morikawa is the elder by two years at 22 – were nothing if not fearless. Wolff fired the third 62 of the week while Morikawa shot a 64 to join his friend in the final pairing on the final day. The two are tied for the lead with Bryson DeChambeau at 15 under, one stroke ahead of PGA TOUR rookie Wyndham Clark and Canadian Adam Hadwin. They’re poised, prepared and propelled by the success of friends like Viktor Hovland, another former Cowboy just out of school who closed with a 64 and tied for 13th at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Who knows where this is going to take us but we’re just trying to make the most out of the summer,â€� Morikawa said. “I mean, this is awesome to be out here. This is what we’ve always wanted, and to be in this position, it’s going to be exciting tomorrow.â€� “We’ve known each other for such a long time,â€� agreed Wolff, who grew up 30 miles from Morikawa in southern California. “… So, it’s really cool to see their success as well and I think that kind of fired me up to be able to go out and try to catch them.â€� On Sunday, though, Wolff, Morikawa and the 25-year-old DeChambeau, another prodigy who already has five TOUR wins including the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last fall, will be the hunted. And the ever-analytical DeChambeau thinks that experience might play to his advantage. “All I know is there’s going to be some pressure,â€� he said. “I won a couple of times out here. I know how to get it done. Doesn’t mean I’m going to get it done tomorrow – just means that I know what to do, especially when I’m firing on all cylinders.â€� Wolff was the first to post a number on Saturday, surging into the picture with a string of five straight birdies to finish off a front-nine 29 and a sixth one at the 10th. He said he felt like he’d been too strategic of late and made a conscious effort to just “rip driver,â€� and playing partner Tom Lehman came away impressed. Lehman, who is 40 years older than Wolff and stands 9 under, even went so far as to say the young man with the unique swing – he picks up his left foot on the takeaway and uses the ground for power – reminded him of John Daly. “Different swings, different styles but the same type, the same kind of jaw‑dropping way of playing as John Daly when he first started,â€� Lehman said. “…  He could hit it with the club so far beyond parallel, and combine that with a really beautiful putting stroke, you say, boy, this guy is sensational. “Matthew Wolff is the same kind of player, tremendous speed.  He has a swing that’s unique, but the uniqueness I think of it is such an advantage to him because the fact that he swings in a way where he keeps the face square for so long through impact, almost no face rotation, so you don’t see wild shots from him.â€� Morikawa was steady on Saturday, too, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and all but one green in regulation. He was in the mix at the Travelers Championship, eventually tying for 14th – and nearly won on the Korn Ferry Tour as a 19-year-old amateur, losing to Ollie Schniederjans in a three-way playoff. “Obviously tomorrow, you know, I want to finish it off,â€� Morikawa said. “I’m not here just to enjoy it, make the cut. I’m here to contend and win. Thankfully, through three rounds I’ve put myself in that position. I’ve got to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and tomorrow should be fun.â€� A win on Sunday would give either player a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and 500 FedExCup points, fast-tracking him into the FedExCup Playoffs. Short of that, though, special temporary membership could be on the line – Wolff would need to finish runner-up alone while Morikawa could reach it with a solo third or four-way tie for second or better. That would allow either player to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions like the ones that got them into the field at the 3M Open. And if a player garners enough non-member FedExCup points to equal or better No. 125 at the end of the Wyndham Championship, he earns his TOUR card for next season. If the non-member points leave a player between No. 126 and 200, he’d qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour finals, where the top 25 money winners also get their TOUR cards. Wolff and Morikawa are trying not to get ahead of themselves, though. It’s cliched but they are taking it one round at a time and are anxious to see how they fit in when the final putt drops on Sunday. “I just learned that, you know, these guys are obviously really good like all the PGA TOUR commercials and stuff say, but at the end of the day I belong out here and I don’t need to change anything in my game to play with the guys out here,â€� said Wolff, whose best finish in his two pro starts is a tie for 80th. “I think that’s what I struggled with the first couple weeks, I was always trying to look for that little extra something and I feel like this week I’ve really just been myself and it’s worked out.â€� Morikawa agreed. “I mean, it is golf out here,â€� he said. “It’s on a lot bigger stage but our games played well through the spring. We’re going to have to remember who we are, what brought us here.â€� And see how good they can be.

Click here to read the full article…