Holy farmer’s tan! Nesbitt goes shirtless, makes cut on number

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — PGA TOUR rookie Viktor Hovland shot a 6-under 66 on Friday at windy Coco Beach for a share of the Puerto Rico Open lead. Related: Leaderboard | Brotherhood of the slump: How TOUR pros found their way back The 22-year-old Norwegian eagled the par-5 second and rebounded from a late bogey on a par 5 with a birdie to join first-round leader Kyle Stanley, Josh Teater and Emiliano Grillo at 10-under 134. “I feel like the wind is blowing out of the same direction here every day, so I think we’ll see the course playing very similar to the first couple days,” Hovland said. “I’m sure the pins are going to be a little more tucked in the corners the next two days, so it will be interesting to see how it plays.”: Hovland dropped a stroke on the par-5 15th, then got back to 10 under with a birdie on the par-4 17th. The former Oklahoma State player won the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, then became the first player since Matt Kuchar in 1998 to sweep low amateur honors at The Masters and U.S. Open. “It’s been pretty windy, which I’m kind of used to in Oklahoma,” Hovland said. “I’ve just been playing good the last couple weeks. Not as good as I would have liked, but I’m definitely trending in the right direction, so it will be fun to play the weekend.” Stanley followed an opening 64 with a 70. “You don’t get really too many straight down or straight in, it’s just a ton of crosswinds,” Stanley said. “That can be kind of tough to control your ball in those conditions. My miss right now is a little bit of a right ball, so I’m loving the right-to-left wind holes and I need to get a little more comfortable on some of the left-to- right ones.” Grillo birdied the final two holes in a 68. “A little bit up and down with the tee shots, but it’s been good so far,” Grillo said. “I kept the ball in front of me. I was able to convert pretty much every single time that I had a chance.” Teater also shot 68. “I think a lot of times I get in this wind and I try to fight it, just kind of maybe get my ball position too far back,” Teater said. “I kind of made an adjustment to put it up a little bit and kind of let it help me instead of try to fight it. And on top of that, I think I’m rolling the ball well.” Sam Ryder was a stroke back after a 65. David Lingmerth (65), Ben Martin (66), Rhein Gibson (70) and Martin Laird (69) were 8 under. Defending champion Martin Trainer missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 73. Tom Lewis also failed to advance. He shot 73-76.

Click here to read the full article…

NASSAU, Bahamas — Viktor Hovland won the Hero World Challenge with more excitement than he needed Sunday, clinching it with a 20-foot bogey putt on the final hole for a 3-under 69 to join tournament host Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners. Hovland took a four-shot lead at the turn when Masters champion Scottie Scheffler made double bogey on the par-5 ninth. No one got closer than two shots the rest of the way. It just didn’t feel that easy. Hovland had a two-shot lead on the 18th when his 6-iron from the slope above a bunker turned hard left and into the water. He took a penalty drop and hit a full wedge to about 20 feet for a chance to save bogey. Scheffler was in the sandy area right of the green, and his chip ran hard over the lip and settled 10 feet away, giving him a par putt to force a playoff if Hovland missed. Hovland holed the bogey putt for another trophy presentation with Woods. It was far different from a year ago, when he rallied from six shots behind. “It’s frigging nerve-wracking,” Hovland said with a smile. “You’re never that comfortable. I didn’t play that great on the back nine, but it was good enough.” Woods won in 2006 and 2007 when it was held at Sherwood Country Club. He had to withdraw this week with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, instead watching in his Sunday red shirt for some drama no one was expecting. Hovland finished at 16-under 272 and won $1 million. The victory is unofficial, but the world ranking points pushed him up three spots to No. 9. Scheffler needed to win to return to No. 1 in the world. Starting three shots behind, Scheffler holed a pitch from 30 yards short of the green on the par-5 sixth hole for eagle to reach 14-under par and momentarily tie for the lead. Hovland was in trouble off the tee, had to play a blind shot over a 20-foot high dune and then holed an 18-foot birdie putt to stay one ahead. The next hole was pivotal, the 18th notwithstanding. Scheffler’s pitch from the bottom of the fairway on the short par-4 seventh barely got onto the green and rolled into the bunker, leading to bogey. Hovland was on the edge of a bunker and chipped to 5 feet for birdie and a two-shot swing, restoring his lead to three. Scheffler’s double bogey on the ninth, which culminated with a three-putt from about 15 feet, left him five shots behind. Cameron Young made a strong bid and got within two shots at one point until he took bogey on the 16th. Xander Schauffele also made an early run until that ended with a bogey on the par-5 16th. Scheffler ran off three straight birdies through the 16th hole to get within two shots, and Hovland gave him an opening on the 18th until he closed it with the big putt. “I made it a little more exciting, I guess,” Hovland said with a smile. Scheffler’s goal was to get within one shot before the 18th. He didn’t quite reach that, but he still had a chance. “I said earlier in the week that I don’t like finishing second,” said Scheffler, a runner-up in the Bahamas for the second straight year who had his third runner-up finish this year. “It’s not a good feeling right now. But I’m proud of the fight.” Scheffler still heads into the holidays with a breakthrough year behind him — the Masters among his four PGA TOUR wins, No. 1 in the world longer than anyone else this year, the PGA TOUR player of the year. Young had a 68 and finished alone in third, followed by Schauffele (68) and Justin Thomas, who had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine to salvage a poor start and close with 70 to finish fifth. “It’s only 20 players, but it’s the best 20 players in the world,” Hovland said. “You’ve got to play your best to win.”

Click here to read the full article…

HOUSTON - Phil Mickelson saved his best for last at the Vivint Houston Open. He holed out from 193 yards on Memorial Park's 18th hole. It was the second-longest hole-out for eagle of his career, as captured by ShotLink. Unfortunately, Mickelson was 11 over par on his previous 35 holes at Memorial Park and will miss the cut in his final start before the Masters. Mickelson also made a quintuple-bogey 8 on the par-3 ninth hole Friday, his highest score on a par-3 in his PGA TOUR career. Mickelson has been experimenting with a 47 ½-inch driver for added distance, but he struggled off the tee in Houston. Mickelson hit just 10 fairways in two rounds, including just three Friday, and lost more than four strokes off the tee in two rounds. He's hitting just 36.4% of his fairways in four starts this season. This week, he made just two birdies, and his walk-off eagle, at the newly-renovated Memorial Park. Mickelson has broken par just once in his last eight rounds on TOUR and is 25 over par in that span. He shot 13 over to miss the cut in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and finished second-to-last in the ZOZO CHAMPIONHSHIP @ SHERWOOD in two starts prior to arriving at the Vivint Houston Open.

Click here to read the full article…