John Smoltz qualifies for U.S. Senior Open

Leaderboard: Can Team USA close out Solheim Cup?

Click here to read the full article…

Justin Rose has experience holding a 54-hole lead at Aronimink Golf Club. The last one was a little larger, though. Rose held a four-shot lead entering the final round of the 2010 Quicken Loans National. He’d earned his first PGA TOUR win just two starts earlier, at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, then lost the Travelers Championship with a Sunday 75. Rose was back in front in his following start, shooting 69-64-67 to take a four-shot lead over Carl Pettersson and Charlie Wi. He led by five strokes after eagling the par-5 ninth hole with a 5-wood that stopped inches from the hole. Three-putts on the back nine’s first two holes put the title in tenuous position, though. He made par on the final seven holes to finish one shot ahead of Ryan Moore. Moore’s 65 matched Sunday’s low score. “I knew having not closed out last week, it was important for me to do it today,â€� Rose said after that win. Rose now has nine PGA TOUR victories, including two this season (World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Fort Worth Invitational). He trailed by eight shots entering the final round in Shanghai and held a four-shot lead in Texas, where he had to hold off a hard-charging Brooks Koepka. Rose is 4 for 14 with a 54-hole lead in his PGA TOUR career and 1 for 2 in the FedExCup Playoffs. He won the 2011 BMW Championship but finished second at the following year’s TOUR Championship. He may not have to defend this lead, though. Rain is forecast throughout Sunday, so there is a chance that the tournament could be called after 54 holes. The final tee time was pushed up to 8:50 a.m. in an attempt to beat the weather. Aronimink is already soaked after Friday’s overnight rains, which delayed the start of the third round. Rose will play alongside 2016 FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy and reigning Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele in Sunday’s final threesome. McIlroy and Schauffele are both one back. Rickie Fowler, who has shot three consecutive 65s, and Tommy Fleetwood, who fired back-to-back 62s, are two behind. “I don’t quite know how tomorrow is going to play out,â€� Rose said. “I don’t think anyone knows what to expect.â€� Rose knows what it takes to protect a lead at Aronimink, though. No one else in the field can say that. DRIVING IT HOME Twenty-eight third-round leaders/co-leaders have won on TOUR this season. Bryson DeChambeau was the most recent to do it, at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Seven leaders/co-leaders at the BMW Championship have gone on to win in the FedExCup era (since 2007). Last year’s winner, Marc Leishman, was the most recent.

Click here to read the full article…

• COURSE: TPC Sawgrass (PLAYERS Stadium), 7,189 yards, par 72. Already lauded as a course that plays no favorites and deftly tests all parts of a player’s game, the Stadium Course offers two new tests this year for the game’s best players. The narrow water hazard between Nos. 6 and 7 has been expanded into a rectangular lake, removing several trees in the vicinity. More significant is No. 12, which has been turned into a drivable par-4 with both fairway and green sloping toward a new water hazard on the left. What hasn’t changed is the hole that receives the most attention – the iconic 17th, measuring 137 yards over water to a green connected only by narrow rear pathway. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: More than 300 Northeast Florida charities receive assistance from THE PLAYERS Championship, among them Wolfson Children’s Hospital, American Cancer Society and Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. Last year’s event raised a record $8.5 million for charity, bringing its total to more than $84 million since the event first arrived outside Jacksonville in 1977. • FIELD WATCH: World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and newlywed No. 2 Rory McIlroy join defending champion Jason Day to headline what is annually the year’s strongest roster. The lineup features 24 of the top 25 in the current world rankings and 55 of the top 60. … Bernhard Langer, 59, is the oldest player in THE PLAYERS field for the third consecutive year. The Hall of Famer will make his 26th start at TPC Sawgrass, getting in by virtue of last year’s victory at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. … One additional berth is available for the winner of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, if he hasn’t already qualified. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Greg Norman (1994). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Fred Couples (3rd round, 1992), Greg Norman (1st round, 1994), Roberto Castro (1st round, 2013), Martin Kaymer (1st round, 2014); Jason Day (1st round, 2016); Colt Knost (2nd round, 2016). • LAST YEAR: Day tied the Stadium Course record with an opening 63 and hardly looked back, becoming just the fifth wire-to-wire winner in the event’s history as he completed a four-shot triumph. Day’s total of 15-under-par 273 was the lowest score at TPC Sawgrass in 10 editions since THE PLAYERS moved to a May date. The chase pack never got closer than two shots in the final round, after Day’s bogey at the par-5 ninth hole. The Aussie birdied two of his next three, though, to post his third victory in a nine-week span, alongside wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Kevin Chappell used late birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 to take runner-up honors, matching their 1-2 finish at Bay Hill. • STORYLINES: Johnson, owner of three straight wins before the Wells Fargo Championship, could use an uptick at TPC Sawgrass. Before last year’s share of 28th, his previous seven starts had yet to yield a top-30 finish. Johnson has broken 70 just once in an opening round – a 68 in 2014. … New Masters champion Sergio Garcia, the 2008 PLAYERS winner, makes his first start since Augusta National. It’s been 14 years since he missed a cut at TPC Sawgrass – but the past two Masters winners (Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett) missed THE PLAYERS cut after slipping on the green jacket. … McIlroy tees it up in competition for the first time as a married man, wedding Erica Stoll in a lavish affair 2 ½ weeks ago at Ashford Castle in Ireland. The reigning FedExCup champion has finished outside the top 10 just once anywhere since East Lake, failing short of knockout play at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. • SHORT CHIPS: A total of 36 balls found the water surrounding No. 17 last year, slightly below average (39.5) since the PGA TOUR began keeping count 14 years ago. Two years earlier produced the all-time low of 28 splashdowns. The record is 93, when the event first moved to May in 2007. … Paul Azinger (1987) is the only man to birdie No. 17 in all four regulation rounds. Rickie Fowler birdied it three times in a day, during the final round and playoff of his 2015 triumph. … Day became just the second of the past 10 champions who managed to close the deal after holding the 54-hole lead. Martin Kaymer was the other, holding off Jim Furyk after a rain delay in 2014. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups), 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (17th hole). Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups), noon-7 p.m. (17th hole). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). For more on all the courses in the TPC network, visit TPC.com.  Play where the pros play. To book your tee time at TPC Sawgrass, visit TeeOff.com.

Click here to read the full article…