John Deere Classic 2017 preview

Click here to read the full article…

SAN ANTONIO — When Greg Norman designed the par-3 16th hole at TPC San Antonio, he created an homage to No. 6 at Riviera Country Club, home of the Genesis Open in Los Angeles, right down to its signature bunker in the center of the green. The doughnut of sand makes the green an easier place to land a small aircraft than land a golf ball unless, of course, you’re Si Woo Kim, who hoisted a 9-iron high in the air from 167 yards and tossed his club when the tentative cheers of the gallery gave way to a lusty, all-out roar that reverberated throughout the Texas Hill Country. “I saw the bounce, but I never (saw) it go in,” said Kim, a former winner of THE PLAYERS Championship. It was the sixth ace of his career — he noted he made his first at age 8 at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles — and second on the PGA TOUR (2016 Travelers Championship). It propelled Kim to a second straight 66 and a 4-stroke lead over six golfers including Rickie Fowler (68) and Jordan Spieth (68). RELATED: Spieth back to holing out shots | Conners a Monday warrior The South Korean carded two birdies on the front nine and grabbed the lead when he rolled in a 22-foot birdie putt at No. 12. He tacked on a short birdie at the par-5 14th before his heroics at No. 16. The ball landed 5 feet short of the cup, hopped once, twice and into the cup. “I’m (always) playing (to) draw the ball, but pin’s tight right,” Kim said. “I’m just trying start left edge of the right bunker. Hit it like really good and then wind’s kind of coming in. Perfect number, too.” Perfection, indeed, as was his celebration. He high-fived with playing competitor Jonas Blixt and caddie Bobby Brown. “Never this loud,” Kim said of the roar for his ace at 16. His play at TPC San Antonio is worthy of applause too. Kim leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (+5.855), and struck the ball better during his bogey-free second-round 66 than he did during his eight-birdie effort the day before, Brown said. Kim, 23, has won twice before — at the 2016 Wyndham Championship and at the 2017 PLAYERS Championship. He expressed his disappointment that he didn’t notch a win last season. “I always try to win,” he said. To do so, he may have to battle the elements. The Texas winds, which laid down on Thursday and Friday, are expected to be a bigger factor this weekend and rain is forecasted for Saturday. Kim’s four-stroke lead is the largest of the TOUR season at the midway point, but he also will have to fend off Fowler and Spieth as well as a host of others. Eighty golfers made the cut at 1-under 143, precipitating a 54-hole cut will take place to the low 70 and ties. Defending champion Andrew Landry, Billy Horschel and Smylie Kaufman, who made his first TOUR start since July, are among the pros from the field of 144 to miss the cut. At 12-under 132, Kim set the 36-hole tournament record at by two strokes since the event moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010. “Halfway home,” said Brown, Kim’s caddie. “Now the real fun starts.”

Click here to read the full article…

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Xander Schauffele tied the Plantation course record at Kapalua with an 11-under 62 on Sunday, and he needed every shot to beat Gary Woodland by one shot and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele started the final round five shots out of the lead and opened with a bogey. His fortunes turned quickly, and it got better with every hole. He ran off three straight birdies. He chipped in from the front of the green on the par-5 ninth for eagle. He holed a wedge from 107 yards for another eagle on No. 12. He took his first lead with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, both times coming close to chipping in for more eagles. Tied with Woodland over the closing holes, Schauffele finished birdie-birdie to match four players for the record. “It was a crazy day,” Schauffele said after his fourth career PGA TOUR victory, and second in as many starts this season. “I didn’t do much leaderboard watching. I knew it was going to be a birdie fest at the end. We kept our head down and made a run for it.” Woodland had a chance to force a playoff, but he hit his drive on the par-5 18th so far — 390 yards downhill but into a Kona wind — that he was between clubs. He tried to draw a hard 4-iron and left it out to the right, hit a pitch-and-run to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt. It was a tough loss for Woodland. He started the final round with a three-shot lead and closed with a bogey-free 68. He never shot worse than 68 all week and was the only player in the winners-only field to have all four rounds in the 60s. It still wasn’t enough. “This one will sting,” Woodland said. Schauffele was in the group ahead of him, and Woodland could see as the 25-year-old Californian went after the left flag on the tough 17th hole to just inside 10 feet for the first birdie of the final round. Woodland hit his approach to just inside 12 feet, and made the second birdie of the day to tie for the lead. Schauffele wasn’t finished. He hammered a 3-wood onto the green at the 18th to about 12 feet, narrowly missing his third eagle of the final round. He rolled it in for his 62 to finish at 23-under 269, and then had to wait. Given a chance to watch on TV, Schauffele figured there would be a camera on him. He chose to wait in the trailer, listening to traffic over the radios, taking a second to realize that Woodland had missed his putt and it was over. Before long, he had a lei around his neck and the trophy in his hands, along with one other perk. “It means I get to come back, which is even better,” Schauffele said. He doesn’t get as much attention as some others from the vaunted high school class of 2011 — Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas head that list. Schauffele is becoming increasingly tough to ignore. This is the second time in three seasons that he has at least two victories. That includes a World Golf Championship last fall in Shanghai, and the TOUR Championship to close out the 2017 season. Thomas closed with a 65 to finish alone in third. Woodland couldn’t think of much he did wrong except fail to take advantage of a few pins he could have played to more aggressively. But he found no consolation in losing to a guy who shot 62 in the tougher of the two wind directions on the west end of Maui. “I don’t think it will ever be easy because I still believe I was playing well enough to shoot 66 today,” Woodland said. “You have an iron into the par 5 in the middle of the fairway on the last hole, you expect to make birdie. I had killed the par 5s all week this week, which is what you’ve got to do out here. So I knew what he was doing and the competitor in me knew I needed to do one better. And unfortunately, I didn’t get it done.” Neither did Rory McIlroy. He played in the final group with Woodland, three shots behind, knowing he had played in the final group six times last year without winning. He got within two shots early, but didn’t make a birdie after the fifth hole and closed with a 72 to tie for fourth with Dustin Johnson (67) and Marc Leishman (71). “I gave myself plenty of chances, just couldn’t get anything to drop,” McIlroy said.  

Click here to read the full article…