Johnson overcomes trouble to lead in Mexico

Click here for the latest field at TPC Four Seasons Resort as of May 12. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Jason Dufner Dustin Johnson Jordan Spieth Jimmy Walker Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Matt Kuchar Winner – The Masters Tournament Sergio Garcia Winner – The Open Championship Ernie Els Winner – TOUR Championship Billy Horschel Winner – World Golf Championship Event Patrick Reed Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every Marc Leishman Winner – FedEx Cup – Last Five Seasons Brandt Snedeker Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Steven Bowditch Keegan Bradley Alex Cejka Greg Chalmers Tony Finau Cody Gribble James Hahn Russell Henley J.J. Henry Charley Hoffman J.B. Holmes Billy Hurley III Smylie Kaufman Si Woo Kim Brooks Koepka Danny Lee Hunter Mahan Peter Malnati Ryan Moore Rod Pampling Scott Piercy D.A. Points Charl Schwartzel Robert Streb Brian Stuard Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Jhonattan Vegas Career Money Exemption Geoff Ogilvy Carl Pettersson Sponsors Exemptions – Web.com Tour Finals Robby Shelton Fabrizio Zanotti Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Angel Cabrera John Merrick Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Paul Earnest Kramer Hickok Beau Hossler Austin Smotherman PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Stuart Deane Past Champion of Respective Event Brendon Todd Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedEx Cup Points List Gary Woodland Sean O’Hair Jason Kokrak Ryan Palmer Louis Oosthuizen Harris English Jamie Lovemark Kyle Reifers Daniel Summerhays Ricky Barnes Chad Campbell Patrick Rodgers Scott Brown Chez Reavie Bryce Molder Freddie Jacobson Spencer Levin John Huh Sung Kang Jason Bohn Tyrone Van Aswegen Derek Fathauer Brett Stegmaier Robert Garrigus Zac Blair Cameron Tringale Andrew Loupe Boo Weekley Mark Hubbard Ben Crane Michael Kim Anirban Lahiri Graham DeLaet Shawn Stefani Seung-Yul Noh Top 125 on Prior Season’s Official Money List thru Wyndham Ken Duke Bud Cauley Chad Collins Morgan Hoffmann Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) Byeong Hun An Major Medical Extension Nick Watney Ian Poulter Brian Gay Bob Estes Ryo Ishikawa Charlie Beljan John Peterson Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Grayson Murray Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Ollie Schniederjans Kelly Kraft Kevin Tway J.J. Spaun Cheng Tsung Pan Dominic Bozzelli J.T. Poston Michael Thompson Ryan Blaum Whee Kim Brandon Hagy Cameron Percy Bryson DeChambeau Scott Stallings Xander Schauffele Martin Flores Tim Wilkinson Richy Werenski Seamus Power Trey Mullinax Julian Etulain Jonathan Randolph Andres Gonzales Tag Ridings Ryan Brehm Gonzalo Fdez-Castano Rory Sabbatini Steven Alker Mark Anderson Nicholas Lindheim Will MacKenzie Brett Drewitt Miguel Angel Carballo Brad Fritsch Brian Campbell Ryan Armour Sebastian Munoz Zack Sucher Joel Dahmen Rick Lamb Bobby Wyatt Max Homa

Click here to read the full article…

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Tiger Woods has missed the cut at the PGA Championship. It’s just his ninth missed cut in a major as a pro. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times | Tiger’s up-and-down Round 1 | Rethinking Tiger’s future | Tiger ‘welcomes’ playing in Olympics Expectations were high when Woods arrived on Long Island after his victory in last month’s Masters, but he made too many unforced errors on Thursday and struggled to find fairways Friday. He finished 36 holes at 5-over 145 (72-73). ROUND 2: TIGER HOLE-BY-HOLE No. 18 (par 4, 411 yards): Tiger hits his third fairway of the day but he misses the green on Bethpage Black’s short par-4 finishing hole. He gives a valiant effort on his chip but it runs by the hole and he will be going home. He makes the 5-foot par putt but it won’t be enough. He finishes 5 over and will miss the cut in a major for the ninth time as a pro. Fairway: Missed (3 of 14) Green: Missed (9 of 18) Putts: 1 (30) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 17 (par 3, 207 yards): It’s going to come down to the last hole. Woods needs to birdie 18 to make the cut. He hit his tee shot on this 193-yard hole to 39 feet, then two-putted for par. He holed a 4-foot par putt to keep his weekend chances alive. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (9 of 17) Putts: 29 Score: 3 (+3, +5 overall) No. 16 (par 4, 490 yards): Another par for Tiger, but that’s not what he needs right now. He’ll have to birdie one of the last two holes to make the cut. Tiger’s tee shot and approach both landed in the fringe. He two-putted from 25 feet for par.  Fairway: Missed (2 of 13) Green: Missed (8 of 16) Putts: 27 Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 15 (par 4, 484 yards): Tiger makes his first par since the eighth hole, but he needs another birdie to avoid a missed cut. He hit his second fairway of the day, then hit his 170-yard approach to 34 feet. He two-putted for par to keep his cut hopes alive. Fairway: Hit (2 of 12) Green: Hit (8 of 15) Putts: 2 (26) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 14 (par 3, 161 yards): Tiger’s fourth three-putt of the week results in a bogey on the shortest hole on the course. A poor approach was the culprit. He hit it to 55 feet from just 160 yards. He’ll need to play the last four holes in 1 under to have a chance at the weekend. He hasn’t had a par since the eight hole, making four bogeys and two birdies in his last six holes. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (7 of 14) Putts: 3 (24) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 13 (par 5, 608 yards): A hard-earned birdie on the Black Course’s only par-5 on the back nine. He had to lay up after driving into a fairway bunker, but then hit his 160-yard approach to 9 feet. He’s sandwiched three bogeys between birdies on 9 and 13. Four over may be enough to make the cut but he can’t afford to drop another shot on the last five holes. Fairway: Missed (1 of 11) Green: Hit (6 of 13) Putts: 1 (21) Score: 4 (+2, +4 overall) No. 12 (par 4, 515 yards): Tiger was just inches from hitting his second fairway of the day. He hit the green from 213 yards, but three-putted for another bogey. It’s his third three-putt of the week. He needs some birdies coming in if he wants to be around for the weekend. Fairway: Missed (1 of 10) Green: Hit (5 of 12) Putts: 3 (20) Score: 5 (+3, +5 overall) No. 11 (par 4, 435 yards): Tiger is mixing things up a bit. He missed this fairway to the right. He’s still hit just one today. From 194 yards out, he tried to play a nifty shot from the rough, choking down on a fairway wood to punch it out of the rough. He squeezed his ball between the bunkers in front of the green, but it ran into the rough behind the green. A poor chip from there left Woods with a 12-foot par putt. He missed that to fall to 4 over for the first time this week. And now he’s on the wrong side of the cut line. Fairway: Missed (1 of 9) Green: Missed (4 of 11) Putts: 2 (17) Score: 5 (+2, +4 overall) No. 10 (par 4, 502 yards): Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Another miss to the left off the tee. This is becoming a theme. Just like Thursday, he has to lay up again on this long par-4. He wedges to 11 feet from 109 yards, but he misses the par putt. He’s back on the cut line with eight holes remaining.  Fairway: Miss (1 of 8) Green: Miss (4 of 10) Putts: 2 (15) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 9 (par 4, 460 yards): A strong finish to the front nine. Tiger hit the fairway and the green and rolled in his 40-foot birdie putt. That will provide a little breathing room on the back nine as Tiger hopes to stay inside the cut line. It looks like he’s playing for a cut with his tee shots but the ball just isn’t fading. That’s why all his misses have been left. His iron play has been solid when he’s had the opportunity to hit approaches from short stuff. Fairway: Hit (1 of 7) Green: Hit (4 of 9) Putts: 1 (13) Score: 3 (E, +2 overall) No. 8 (par 3, 210 yards): A straightforward par. And that’s a good thing at this point. Tiger hit his 201-yard tee shot to 22 feet, then two-putted for par. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (3 of 8) Putts: 2 (12) Score: 3 (+1, +3 overall) No. 7 (par 4, 524 yards): Another fairway missed. This one was left, as well. He could only hack out on this brutish par-4. He hit a strong wedge shot to 6 feet but missed the putt for his second bogey of the day. Fairway: Missed (0 for 6) Green: Missed (2 for 7) Putts: 2 (10) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 6 (par 4, 408 yards): Left. Again. He still hasn’t hit a fairway, but he collects his first birdie of the day after hitting his 133-yard approach to 18 feet. He holed the putt from the fringe to get back to even par for the day. Fairway: Missed (0 for 5) Green: Missed (2 for 6) Putts: 0 (8) Score: 3 (E, +2 overall) No. 5 (par 4, 478 yards): Left again with the driver. He’s missed the first four fairways today. The rough is no place to be at Bethpage Black. He’s able to advance it into a greenside bunker. He blasted his ball to 9 feet and made the putt to stay on the correct side of the cut line. Fairway: Missed (0 for 4) Green: Missed (2 for 5) Putts: 1 (8) Score: 4 (+1, +3 overall) No. 4 (par 5, 517 yards): We’ll have to wait another hole for Tiger to hit his first fairway. He’s missed left both times he’s unsheathed the big stick today. That necessitates a lay-up. His spotty wedge play continued on the third shot, though, as he hit the 75-yarder to 25 feet. He two-putts for par and fails to take advantage of another hole that offers the rare birdie opportunity at Bethpage Black. Nos. 1, 2 and 4 are three of the four easiest holes on the course. He played them in 1 over. Tiger is now 13 shots behind Brooks. Fairway: Missed (0 for 3) Green: Hit (2 for 4) Putts: 2 (7) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 3 (par 3, 230 yards): Tiger gave himself a great birdie chance after lasering a long-iron to 11 feet on this 221-yard hole. Unfortunately, it’s the second consecutive day that he’s unable to convert on a strong tee shot on the course’s toughest par-3. He missed a 9-foot birdie putt here on Friday. Tiger had to work hard for par after racing the birdie putt by, but he holed his 4-foot par putt to avoid dropping another shot. Fairway: NA Green: Hit (1 for 3) Putts: 2 (5) Score: 3 (+1, +3 overall) No. 2 (par 4, 389 yards): The second hole is the shortest par-4 at Bethpage Black but Tiger missed the fairway with an iron off the tee. He could only hack out, leaving himself a 90-yard wedge shot for his third. That shot spun back, some 20 feet short of the hole. Bethpage’s first two holes are the second- and fourth-easiest on the course, but Tiger has played them in 1 over. Another Brooks birdie means Tiger is now 12 back and, more importantly, on the cut line. Fairway: Missed (0 for 2) Green: Missed (0 for 2) Putts: 2 (3) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 1 (par 4, 430 yards): A sloppy start. Tiger missed both the fairway and the green on Bethpage’s opening hole, but he salvaged par with a strong sand shot. He pulled his opening tee shot into the fans, which was a thrill for the New Yorkers but a headache for security. It took several minutes for the rowdy gallery members to clear out and give Tiger enough room to gouge his ball out of the thick stuff. He bounced that shot into the bunker, but he left himself plenty of green to work with. He finished it off with a 4-foot birdie putt. Brooks made an easy birdie, though, and Tiger is now 10 back. Fairway: Missed (0 for 1) Green: Missed (0 for 1) Putts: 1 (1) Score: 4 (E, +2 overall)

Click here to read the full article…

ERIN, Wis. — A small blimp crashed near the U.S. Open on Thursday, seriously injuring the pilot and grabbing the attention of fans and golfers alike as they watched the fiery, smoking craft fall from the sky into an open field. Sheriff’s officials said the pilot was the only one on board. He had some burns, but was in stable condition, according to Pamela S. Sullivan, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. “I was teeing off and I looked up and saw it on fire, and I felt sick to my stomach,” Jamie Lovemark said after his opening round in one of golf’s four majors. “I had the shakes. I felt terrible for the people inside. I didn’t know what was going on. It was a horrible sight.” Golfer Brandt Snedeker said he spotted something while on the course at Erin Hills, about 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee. “My caddie made a comment on the ninth hole. He said the blimp is not looking good,” Snedeker said. “I guess it was nose down. I saw a puff of black smoke. I didn’t know it was the blimp. It’s not good. Glad everybody is OK.” Sullivan said the pilot had been interviewed by detectives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, but the NTSB had not talked to him yet. He had just taken off on his second flight of the day in a hybrid of a typical blimp and a balloon envelope when he decided it was too windy and planned to return to a private airstrip. He encountered an updraft on his way down and vented some of the air from the envelope so he could drop back down. “When he was doing that he heard a sound similar to some of the panels ripping on the balloon,” Sullivan said. “A couple seconds later he said he heard another rip sound. The airship pitched nose down. “He turned off the manifold, the fuel to the burners. However, the envelope started collapsing and the burners were still burning the residual fuel. The envelope caught fire.” Sullivan said it’s her understanding the pilot was able to crawl away from the burning wreckage. He was wearing a protective suit and gloves. “He did have some burns, but that, we’re assuming, probably was a huge factor in protecting him,” she said. The blimp, operated by Florida-based AirSign, was being used for advertising as it floated above the tournament. A deputy at a security post reported seeing the aircraft on fire or smoking and rapidly descending about 11:15 a.m., authorities said. Rescue crews used utility vehicles to reach the crash site, about a half mile from the golf course. Aerial video from a television news helicopter showed pieces of the flattened blimp on the field along with charred metal and grass. A handful of fans at the U.S. Open also posted video on Twitter of the craft’s descent. “It was a horrific scene,” Lovemark said. “I’ve never seen a plane crash, blimp crash, anything like that. So it was pretty awful. I thought they might stop play.” Justin Maynard, a sales manager for AirSign, said the company’s operations team on the ground in Erin had no definitive information on the pilot’s condition, other than the pilot was expected to be OK. Mary Ruediger, 45, was visiting her parents who live along an access road to the golf course and spotted the blimp going down. “It was kind of floating and was deflating and I could see flames. Then it went behind the trees,” Ruediger said. She said she drove toward the site where the blimp hit the ground. “You could see the black smoke and then there were three big fireballs as it exploded,” she said.

Click here to read the full article…