How to watch Cadence Bank Houston Open, Round 2: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

MELBOURNE, Australia – After two successful sessions as a player, U.S. Team captain Tiger Woods will rest Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup. Woods did not insert himself into the lineup for the four morning Four-Balls matches at Royal Melbourne. Instead, he’ll stay 100 percent focused on captaining his team in hope of rallying from a three-point deficit. RELATED: Two winning putts – and a T.O. celebration – keeps U.S. close | Day 2 match recaps | Day 3 morning match previews | Quiz: Which team should you support? Even though he’s playing well – he’s been the best American player thus far, as he and partner Justin Thomas have two of the three U.S. match wins this week  – Woods said it was not a difficult decision to sit out. “That was kind of the game plan,â€� said Woods, who tied Phil Mickelson for most Presidents Cup match wins with 26 after he and Thomas won 1-up over Byeong Hun An and Hideki Matsuyama. “It would be hard for me to go all the sessions. I’ve been fortunate enough to go out there with J.T. and we’ve gotten two points.â€� Woods has a good alternative for Thomas, partnering him with Rickie Fowler for Four-Balls. Thomas and Fowler played three matches together two years ago at Liberty National, winning 2.5 points. “They’ve been looking forward to playing with one another,â€� Woods said. With just four matches in each session on Saturday, Woods has to sit out four players at a time. It’s conceivable he comes back for the afternoon Foursomes session, especially if the Americans need a boost. Woods is 12-4-1 in Foursomes in his Presidents Cup career. All players, of course, must participate in Sunday Singles. Woods has leaned heavily on his three assistant captains – Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Zach Johnson – to manage the team while he’s been playing. On Thursday, Woods’ match finished first, so he went into captain mode for the other four. On Friday, though, Woods’ match was the fourth to finish, so the only match he watched was Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland rallying to tie Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith. “I’ve been very fortunate to have had three of the most amazing vice captains,â€� Woods said. “They have all been there, done that, have seen it, and their commitment to this, I couldn’t have done this without them. I wouldn’t have accepted this role without them.â€�

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Kuchar’s finally have a dog. It has been a long running promise from Matt Kuchar to his sons Cameron (11) and Carson (9) that if he won a major championship they could have a dog. While the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club – which Kuchar won by four strokes on Sunday for his ninth PGA TOUR win – is not a major it does come with a nice perk for the champion. A state of the art AIBO robotic dog. Both Cameron and Carson were all smiles as they accompanied their father on his tournament winner duties. “It’s going to be a great addition to the family. We are going to have some fun with AIBO,â€� Kuchar beamed with his trademark smile. “We talk about getting a real dog, but AIBO is going to have to be our little real dog for the time being.â€� While clearly excited with his new pet Kuchar was obviously more pleased to have collected his second win in three starts on the PGA TOUR. The wait was not nearly as long between drinks as previously.  The 40-year-old waited 1,667 days between his seventh and eighth TOUR wins but it took just 64 days to get this one. RELATED: Final round, Sony Open in Hawaii The former PLAYERS Champion moved to second in the FedExCup behind Xander Schauffele. “I’m tickled, thrilled to have won two events this early in the year,â€� Kuchar said. “To have won two out of three starts on the PGA TOUR is mind boggling to me. It absolutely sets up the year to be in great position for the FedExCup. There is a lot of year left and a lot of great things that are out there to be done.â€� Having started Sunday two shots in front of Andrew Putnam, Kuchar made the turn one back of last season’s Barracuda Championship winner following some early stumbles. But a 5-under 30 back nine blitz pushed the veteran to 22 under for the week, ultimately four clear of his nearest challenger. And he’s ready for more success. While not making any outlandish promises Kuchar was happy to be reminded of Vijay Singh’s early 40s. Singh won 22 times on TOUR after entering his fourth decade of life including the FedExCup in 2008. “I would certainly like to (do what Singh did),â€� Kuchar said. “He set a great example. Certainly showed that is possible. A number of guys showed that it is possible. It’s nice to know that. “It’s not like you hit 40 and you have to go away. There are guys that have done great. Certainly I’m off to a way better start than I would’ve expected. Feels good. I hope to continue.â€� While the PGA TOUR is getting younger and younger each year the veteran continues to adapt impressively. “Thankfully golf requires so many different things to be going right. It’s not just power game or a putting game,â€� Kuchar added. “There are so many facets to the game that it allows people to play for a long time and play competitively and play great for a long time. I am grateful that the game requires so many different facets to it. It’s not just a long-drive contest.â€� Next up for the Kuchar family is a two-week vacation on other Hawaiian islands and they are already planning their return to Maui for next year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. And now they get to bring the dog. CHIP SHOTS FROM THE SONY OPEN Over the course of the four rounds runner up Andrew Putnam led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (+10.894), making an incredible 447 feet, seven inches worth of putts. Read about his efforts here. Marc Leishman closed with a bogey-free 64 to finish T3 a week after being T4 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui. He is third in the FedExCup. “If I could have made a few more putts today then who knows what might have happened but overall it is a good few weeks in Hawaii,â€� he said. “Two good finishes and a nice bank of FedExCup points keeps me up there in the standings.â€� With rounds of 67-68-64-65 Davis Love III finished seventh at 16 under. It was the 54-year-old Hall-Of-Famer’s first top 10 since the 2017 Wyndham Championship. He says he will be a more regular feature on the PGA TOUR this season. “I kind of committed to some of my sponsors that this was going to be pretty much a regular TOUR year,â€� he admitted. “I’ve been struggling to get to 15 events the last few years because of different injuries; some self-inflicted and some wear and tear. I felt like I owed it to my sponsors and myself to give the TOUR a full shot. I will play some Champions Tour events to fill in, but I am committed to playing at least two events a month all the way through the start of the next season.â€� Corey Conners leveraged his Monday qualifying effort into a tie for third, the best finish by a Monday qualifier this season. Conners was runner up at the Sanderson Farms Championship as a regular member of the field and now sits 19th in the FedExCup. Charles Howell III’s love affair with the Sony Open in Hawaii continued. He’s now made the cut in all 18 trips to Waialae Country Club and his T8 was his 10th top 10. He has two runner ups and two thirds. “If I stay healthy I’ll never miss this one,â€� Howell III said. “I can control the showing up part… The finishes, I don’t know … but it would be awful special to one day win here.â€� Defending champion Patton Kizzire finished with a 5-under 65 to be 13 under and tied 13th. Brian Stuard shot rounds of 66-69-64-66 to finish T8, his first top 20 result since a T4 a year ago at Waialae. CALL OF THE DAY

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The TOUR Championship marks not only the conclusion of the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season but also the 16th edition of the FedExCup Playoffs. And how sweet it is. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look | 30 one-liners for East Lake Merely qualifying for the finale is an achievement, so there are commensurate benefits on top of what’s at stake beginning on Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Beneath this full-field Power Rankings, you’ll find details on the perks, the host course and much more. NOTE: Starting Strokes for every golfer are included. POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP On top of exemptions into numerous invitationals, all 30 qualifiers for the TOUR Championship receive spots into the 2023 editions of the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. While those are secure, prize money collected at the conclusion of the tournament varies. Included in the link to Starting Strokes at the top is the bonus money reserved for the golfers who advanced to the TOUR Championship. The winner will bank $18 million, tenth place pays $1 million, while last promises $500K. (Earnings are unofficial.) For the fourth consecutive edition of the TOUR Championship, Starting Strokes sets the opening leaderboard. It’s designed to reward performance through the BMW Championship and you can think of its impact as the result of a round that’s already been completed. Scoring in relation to par with Starting Strokes contributing is all that matters. Last year, Patrick Cantlay opened as the top seed at 10-under. He scored 11-under 269 in four rounds to total 21-under and win by one over Jon Rahm. The Spaniard opened as the fourth seed at 6-under and scored 14-under 266. In 2019 and 2020, exactly six golfers rose from outside the opening top 10 upon arrival to record a top 10 in the tournament. Five did it last year, including Billy Horschel, who opened at even par and finished T9 at 10-under. His jump from 29th is the best since Starting Strokes was introduced. A dozen of the qualifiers are experiencing Starting Strokes for the first time, 10 of whom are tournament debutants altogether. The learning curve at East Lake is flattened a bit by opening position, but course management influenced by history on it can serve as speed slots on the tiniest leaderboard of the season. East Lake is the same stock par 70 that recent participants have played. It tips at 7,346 yards and greens essentially are average in size at just over 6,000 square feet. Speeds are governed to a quick 13 feet, so, and as usual, it demands the full bag for the final exam. That said, classic summer weather in Hotlanta could soften the turf every day, so scoring could be lower than usual. (The field checked in at 68.805 last year.) Rain and the potential for storms command attention throughout, but the overall effect should be minimal given the size of the field. Wind will not be a factor and daytime temperatures will climb comfortably into the 80s. While the FedExCup Playoffs is now old enough to drive, East Lake always caters to that off the tee. The par 5s are among the most scorable on the schedule. In his four trips through Nos. 6 and 18, Cantlay birdied each every time. Speaking of the defending champion, he’s in an unprecedented spot times two. After becoming the first to successfully defend a FedExCup Playoffs event at last week’s BMW Championship, he not only can become the first ever to win consecutive events in the Playoffs for a second time (2021), but he’d be the first to successfully defend the FedExCup itself. Of course, should he do that, then he’d also become the second to successfully defend a FedExCup Playoffs event after last week’s achievement. Whoever claims the title will be credited with an official PGA TOUR victory. With that comes an invitation into the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions for which one-third of the field isn’t yet eligible. Rookies Cameron Young and Sahith Theegala not only and likely will be deciding who’s voted Rookie of the Year, but they are the only two non-winners on TOUR in the field. The champion also will extend his membership status to the maximum of five seasons through 2027. Incidentally, in January it was announced that Andrew Green and his design company will be renovating East Lake following next year’s TOUR Championship. If you like his work, you don’t have to look far to find more of it. He also was responsible for the updated South Course at Wilmington Country Club in advance of last week’s BMW Championship. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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