Historic NJCAA title run ends for beloved golfer

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (AP) — Even with so few people around, Jon Rahm could hear from the other side of the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had made a 45-foot birdie on the final hole to force a playoff Sunday in the BMW Championship. Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and made some magic of his own. RELATED: FedExCup standings | Leaderboard | What’s in Rahm’s bag? From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm’s putt from just over 65 feet rolled down the ridge and into the cup, setting off a roar so loud it nearly made up for not having spectators. “I knew how good DJ has been playing. I was expecting nothing else,” Rahm said. “I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it. Never did I think I would make another 50-, 60-footer, a couple of breaks in there, to end up winning it.” Johnson remained No. 1 in the FedExCup standings while Rahm moved up to No. 2 as the TOUR Championship begins this week. Rahm’s big birdie putt on the first extra hole spared him thoughts of his blunder in the third round, when he picked up his ball on the fifth green without marking it, leading to a one-shot penalty and his only bogey of the weekend. He tore through the back nine Sunday on his way to a 6-under 64, the lowest round of the week, to finish at 4-under 276. Johnson, a 54-hole leader for his third straight tournament and coming off an 11-shot victory last week at the TPC Boston, birdied three of his opening four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a pair of shots around the turn and then delivered in the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67. Joaquin Niemann, the 21-year-old from Chile, also made a spirited run with a 67 and was in the lead until a bogey on the 14th and no birdies the rest of the way. He tied for third with Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 69. Tony Finau closed with a 65 to finish three behind. They were the only five players under par at Olympia Fields. Rahm won for the second time this year on the PGA TOUR, and the 11th time in his career worldwide. Mackenzie Hughes had reason to celebrate, too. He was on the verge of playing his way into the top 30 who advance to East Lake when he took a sloppy bogey on the 17th. Needing a par on the 18th, he put his approach into the front bunker, splashed out to 5 feet and raised both arms when it dropped. Niemann also moved into the top 30, though he was chasing victory all day. Adam Long and Kevin Streelman were bumped out, and Long suffered the worst of those fates. He was projected 30th in the FedExCup until Corey Conners three-putted from 5 feet for double bogey on the final hole. That allowed Billy Horschel to move up enough spots on the leaderboard to move to the 30th and final spot by three points over Long. The top 30 are assured spots in at least three majors next year, along with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua to start the year. The winners-only event is taking the top 30 in the FedExCup from having lost three months of the season to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tiger Woods missed all the action. He made double bogey on his 17th hole for a 71, making this the first time he was over par in all four rounds of a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2010. Woods failed to reach the TOUR Championship for the second straight year. He now gets two weeks off before the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields proved to be a good test for that.

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – When Phil Mickelson arrived at the 13th hole, it was hard to believe his week could get any worse. He was 10 over par after four consecutive bogeys that ended any chance of a Saturday charge at Shinnecock Hills. Then Mickelson committed a shocking act that produced another unforgettable moment in a U.S. Open career defined by disappointment. After taking four shots to reach the green, his 19-foot putt looked like it was about to roll off the front of the putting surface. Mickelson jogged after his ball and hit it while it was still in motion. Mickelson incurred a two-shot penalty under Rule 14-5, which states that a player must not make a stroke at a ball that is moving. He then two-putted for a sextuple-bogey 10. He seemed surprised by the backlash to his actions, insisting that he was simply using the rules to his advantage. “I don’t mean to disrespect anybody. I know it’s a two-shot penalty,� Mickelson said. “At that time, I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that. I just finally did.� Mickelson, who celebrated his 48th birthday on Saturday, signed for an 81 that left him at 17-over 227 (77-69-81). He had played Friday’s final 15 holes in 3 under just to make the cut and keep his slim chances of winning his first U.S. Open alive. Mickelson, 48, needs to win his national championship to complete the career Grand Slam. He has a record six runners-up in the event. The 81 matched Mickelson’s highest round at the U.S. Open. He shot a second-round 81 to miss the cut in his pro debut in 1992 at Pebble Beach. John Daly committed a similar infraction in the 1999 U.S. Open. He whacked a ball out of frustration as it was rolling off of one of Pinehurst’s crowned greens. Mickelson said that wasn’t his motive, though. “I don’t feel like it was frustration that crept over,� Mickelson said. “I had fun. (Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston) and I had a great time today. People here have been tremendous. They have made my birthday very special and I’m very appreciative of that. … I just took two shots and moved on because I didn’t want to keep hitting it back and forth. That’s all there is to it.� Johnston, who shot 82 Saturday while playing alongside Mickelson, called Mickelson’s move “one of the mad moments.� “We were both obviously really struggling,� Johnston said. “It was funny because I didn’t think he hit that bad of a chip shot from behind the green in the first place. And as it released and went through, I thought, ‘Wow, that is seriously quick.’ “It wasn’t a (way) of saying, ‘I’ve had enough’ or this and that. It just happened. I said, ‘That’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen,’ and then just started laughing, to be honest.� Some insisted that Mickelson’s actions were against the spirit of the law and could be considered a “major breach� of the Rules of Golf, which result in disqualification.  Rule 1-2, titled “Exerting Influence on Movement of Ball or Altering Physical Conditions,� states, “A player must not (i) take an action with the intent to influence the movement of a ball in play or (ii) alter physical conditions with the intent of affecting the playing of a hole.� John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships and governance, said the tournament’s rules committee quickly convened and unanimously determined that Mickelson’s actions did not fit under that category. “He didn’t deflect it or stop it. He played a moving ball,� Bodenhamer said. “He made a stroke at a moving ball, which is explicitly covered under 14-5. So it’s not necessary to move on to (Rule) 1-2. It’s covered under 14-5.�

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