Hideki Matsuyama leads BMW Championship

LOS ANGELES - Tyler McCumber is literally riding an agony and ecstasy rollercoaster as he continues to contend at The Genesis Invitational despite a smashed up left index finger that required emergency minor surgery to rip off his fingernail. McCumber jammed his hand in a window on Tuesday at his hotel and feared he had killed off his hopes of playing at Riviera Country Club in the process. He even booked a flight home to Florida, but a painful procedure by a PGA TOUR doctor allowed him to cancel the early exit and take his place in the field. Despite the discomfort McCumber opened the tournament with a tidy 4-under 67 and was six deep in his second round before a late fade resulted in a Friday 68 that left him 7 under and in third place as he signed his card. "I was coming out to the course and I went to open the windows to cool off the hotel room before I left, and I smashed it in a sliding window door right in the crevice. It went underneath the back of the nail bed and lifted half of the back of the nail up," McCumber said of his painful slip up on Tuesday. "It was pretty torn up, but fortunately the surgeon on site, the emergency surgeon is a hand specialist. Dr. Modabber. So he gave me the option, he said we can bandage it up, obviously you can’t play because it’s just too painful, or we can do a procedure where we just rip off the nail, but half of the nail is still intact." McCumber, who sits 44th in the FedExCup thanks mainly to a runner up finish at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and a T6 at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall, chose to go through the latter. He cut off the corresponding finger on his glove to facilitate play. Of course, being a millennial, the 29-year-old had the procedure filmed. "He numbed the finger and ripped off the nail. It’s pretty gnarly. I got a good video out of it. It’s pretty bad," he added. "Watching the video is almost more gross than in person. But he did a great job, he was very professional. He actually made the experience somewhat manageable. "Basically I was able to kind of see if I could hit balls that next day and I was (able to). I just kind of altered my glove and kept it on all day and putted with it on. It’s a lot less (pain) without the fingernail on there, but you can tell it’s just kind of bleeding all the way through this bandage. Thankfully Riviera will take your mind off the pain."

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How they qualified for THE PLAYERS Championship, May 10-13. Winner – Tournament Winner in the Past Year Ryan Armour Daniel Berger Patrick Cantlay Paul Casey Austin Cook Jason Day Bryson DeChambeau Jason Dufner Brice Garnett Billy Horschel Dustin Johnson Kevin Kisner Patton Kizzire Satoshi Kodaira Brooks Koepka Andrew Landry Marc Leishman Hideki Matsuyama Rory McIlroy Phil Mickelson Grayson Murray Pat Perez Scott Piercy Ted Potter, Jr. Ian Poulter Jon Rahm Patrick Reed Justin Rose Xander Schauffele Jordan Spieth Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Henrik Stenson Chris Stroud Justin Thomas Jhonattan Vegas Bubba Watson Gary Woodland Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup points list Rickie Fowler Russell Henley Matt Kuchar Webb Simpson Tony Finau Charley Hoffman Sergio Garcia Brian Harman Adam Hadwin Kevin Chappell Louis Oosthuizen Bill Haas Mackenzie Hughes Francesco Molinari Hudson Swafford Chez Reavie Charles Howell III Wesley Bryan Lucas Glover Charl Schwartzel Kevin Na Cameron Smith Keegan Bradley Zach Johnson Luke List Anirban Lahiri Stewart Cink Si Woo Kim Scott Brown Martin Laird Jamie Lovemark Sung Kang Ollie Schniederjans Rafa Cabrera Bello Sean O’Hair Robert Streb Ryan Moore Bud Cauley Emiliano Grillo James Hahn Kevin Tway Danny Lee Russell Knox Kelly Kraft Brandt Snedeker Rod Pampling Jason Kokrak Patrick Rodgers Adam Scott Branden Grace Jonas Blixt Chad Campbell William McGirt Kevin Streelman Cody Gribble Cheng Tsung Pan Whee Kim Harold Varner III Chris Kirk Nick Taylor David Lingmerth J.B. Holmes J.J. Spaun Michael Kim Scott Stallings Byeong Hun An Martin Flores D.A. Points Richy Werenski Ryan Blaum Geoff Ogilvy Robert Garrigus Jimmy Walker Brian Gay Vaughn Taylor Steve Stricker Derek Fathauer Tyrone Van Aswegen Harris English Dominic Bozzelli Nick Watney John Huh Blayne Barber Ben Martin Rory Sabbatini J.J. Henry Top 125 (Medical) Ryan Palmer Michael Thompson Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (last 5 years) Martin Kaymer Tiger Woods Winner – Masters Tournament Danny Willett Winner – World Golf Championships Event – Bridgestone Inv. (3yr) Shane Lowry Top 50 – World Golf Ranking thru Zurich Tommy Fleetwood Alex Noren Tyrrell Hatton Kiradech Aphibarnrat Matthew Fitzpatrick Ross Fisher Haotong Li Alexander Levy Winner – Senior Players Championship – Prior Year Scott McCarron Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour Prior Year Chesson Hadley Below Top 10 on current year FedExCup points Beau Hossler Tom Hoge Trey Mullinax Brandon Harkins

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A memorable start that featured the previous three U.S. presidents on the first tee ended with a familiar result in the Presidents Cup. The Americans are out to another big lead in the event they haven’t lost in nearly two decades. PGA champion Justin Thomas made his professional team debut with a short day of work as he and Rickie Fowler lost only two holes in a 6-and-4 victory. Jordan Spieth holed a 35-foot putt that sent him and Patrick Reed to another victory. Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar remained unbeaten. The Americans won the opening session for the sixth straight time in the Presidents Cup and built a 3 1/2-1 1/2 lead Thursday after the opening foursomes matches. Phil Mickelson, playing in his 23rd consecutive team competition, ended the tough, wind-swept afternoon at Liberty National by missing an 8-foot par putt, or the U.S. lead would have been even greater. He and Kevin Kisner were 1 down with two holes remaining to Jason Day and Marc Leishman, so a half-point wasn’t bad. Mickelson’s only complaint was that he botched his selfie with former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, with barely his head showing. For the most part, everything else went the Americans’ way. The lone bright spot for the International team was Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, who improved to 5-0 as a tandem. The South African duo pulled away for a 3-and-1 victory over U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger. The stars on this day didn’t hit a shot. The leader of every country where the Presidents Cup is held are invited to be honorary chairman, but this was a first — three U.S. presidents together at this event, sitting together in a box on the first tee and then posing with the trophy, the players and their wives. “I was looking forward to this Presidents Cup for a very long time, and I didn’t expect all the presidents to be there,” Charl Schwartzel of South Africa said. “Just to get to meet them was a dream come true for me. Then to hit that first tee shot with the wind pumping off the right was quite intimidating.” The Americans have a 9-1-1 lead in the series, their lone loss in 1998 at Royal Melbourne a few weeks before Christmas. Nick Price, back as International captain for the third time, was not ready to panic. The Americans opened a 4-1 lead after the opening session two years ago in South Korea, and that came down to the final match. “We always get ourselves behind a little bit in alternate shot,” Day said. “It would have been nice to be 3-2, but once again, we’re not that far behind. The American side is very, very talented and stacked. But I think our team and our boys are ready to rally behind everyone, and hopefully we can finish strong later on in the week.” Fowler holed a 70-foot pitch and Thomas followed with a 12-foot birdie, and they were never seriously challenged. Spieth and Reed improved to 6-1-2 as a tandem in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. They won four straight holes early in the match against International rookies Si Woo Kim and Emiliano Grillo. And when the match looked as if it had a chance to get tight, Spieth rolled in his big putt and they were on their way. Johnson and Kuchar are unbeaten in four matches together, and they had to be at their best. The gusts topped 20 mph and felt even stronger on exposed areas of Liberty National, which sits across New York Harbor from Manhattan. The par-3 10th hole was so difficult to judge the wind that Adam Scott hit a tee shot that sailed over the green into a hazard, while Spieth in the match behind him came up some 60 feet short of the hole in a bunker. Johnson and Kuchar didn’t make a single bogey, remarkable in the format and in the wind, and they still didn’t take the lead until Johnson’s tee shot on the par-3 16th with a strong wind at his back stopped 5 feet away. Scott came up short, and then missed a 6-foot par putt. Scott and Jhonattan Vegas never caught up. “In alternate shot, in these conditions, not to make a bogey and for us to just win 1 up, that’s a heck of a battle that we had with those guys,” Kuchar said. Leishman was playing with his sixth partner in his last six Presidents Cup matches. He and Day were 1 up with two holes to play when Leishman missed the fairway on the 17th hole and they made bogey. On the 18th, Mickelson went over the green in a swale, while Day came up short. Both teams made bogey for the halve. Friday features five matches of fourballs, followed by a full day of foursomes and fourballs Saturday and the decisive Sunday singles. 

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