Kevin Kisner wears Bama jersey to pay off Justin Thomas bet

FORT WORTH, Texas – Jon Rahm was at Colonial during tournament week each of the past two years to accept the Ben Hogan Award that goes to the nation’s top college golfer. This time, he’s playing in the PGA TOUR event at Hogan’s Alley and among the leaders. With his 4-under 66 on Thursday, Rahm was a stroke behind first-round leaders Kelly Kraft, Derek Fathauer and PGA TOUR rookie J.T. Poston. That also put Rahm ahead of two-time Colonial champs Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson after both birdied their last three holes for 67s. He also led 2016 winner Jordan Spieth, whose even-par round included six birdies. “The last two times I was here, all I recorded was super happy and positive memories,” Rahm said. “It’s just the vibe that I have around this place is so positive, especially with Sergio (Garcia) winning and with the Ben Hogan history that I’m related to now.” The 22-year-old Rahm, the winner at Torrey Pines in January, had only one bogey while playing with Masters champion Garcia, the fellow Spaniard who won in his first Colonial appearance in 2001. Kraft and Graeme McDowell, tied with Rahm for fourth, had the only bogey-free rounds. Only 33 of the 121 players finished the first round under par. Scott Brown had the other 66, and had the outright lead at 6 under before a double bogey at No. 18. Spieth, coming off missed cuts the past two weeks, was tied for 34th his six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. He was even par after birdies on his last two holes. “It’s a great finish. Kept me in the tournament,” Spieth said. “If I was a couple over, you know, in the back of my mind I would be wondering about the cut line.” After two bogeys on the first four holes, Spieth made 4-foot birdie putt at the 466-yard No. 5 hole, and made a 10-foot birdie at the 168-yard, par-3 13th. In between those birdies at two of Colonial’s toughest holes, Spieth made a nearly 40-foot putt to save par after a wayward drive at No. 9. His drive at the 10th went into a concrete culvert for another bogey, and he missed the fairway right again at the 622-yard 11th, only to get back in the fairway and go on to a 2-foot birdie. “Hit some very solid shots. With gusty winds, it’s not going to end up where you think it’s going to a lot of the time,” Spieth said. “I felt like I missed some fairways by 1-5 yards today. That made a complete difference in the way the hole played.” Before his birdie-birdie finish, Spieth had double bogey at the 429-yard 15th, when he blasted from a fairway bunker through the green and into the water, and made bogey at the par-3 16th. Mickelson, back at Hogan’s Alley for the first time since 2010, made an 8-foot putt at the 435-yard 7th hole, then hit his tee shot inside 2 feet of the cup at the par-3 8th. His 33-footer at No. 9 came after playing partner Matt Kuchar had just missed a slightly longer putt on the same line on their finishing hole. When changes were made to the course after his 2008 victory, Mickelson missed the cut in 2010 with a chance to become the world’s No. 1 player. He later indicated that Colonial no longer suited his game. “Nothing real specific,” he said, when asked what changed his mind. “It’s been a while and I needed to … I felt it was in my best interest to get in contention and try to play more events and try to get the scores, results out of it.” Rahm was at Arizona State when he became the first two-time winner of the Hogan Award. His first competitive round at Colonial came a day after Arizona State’s women rallied to win their eighth NCAA championship, and first since 2009. “To see them win in the fashion they did, it was amazing,” said Rahm, who practiced with that team while in school. “The coolest thing is that’s the closest I’ll ever be to experiencing something like that and I’m happy for them. … To be honest, that energy and positivity probably helped me today.”

Click here to read the full article…

ORLANDO – First alternate Johnson Wagner wasn’t sure what the day held for him as he drove to Bay Hill Club & Lodge in the dark Thursday morning. He was in his car when the phone rang. PGA TOUR Rules Official Brad Fabel told him Davis Love III had withdrawn with a sore neck, and Wagner would get his spot if he could make a 7:20 tee time. He not only made it, he shot a 1-under 71. “I was just going to come in and wait on the tee,� said Wagner, 38, a three-time TOUR winner who has limited status this season. “My plan was to be on the range warming up at 6:30, before the first tee time at 6:45. If someone couldn’t go I was going to be available.� Wagner was fifth alternate at the entry deadline, but he already had to be in Orlando for a PGA TOUR Policy Board meeting on Monday. By then he’d moved up some, and he ascended all the way to first alternate when Talor Gooch withdrew Wednesday morning. He would have been crazy not to stick around. Playing with Daniel Berger (77) and Chesson Hadley (71) on Thursday, he tied for low man in the group. “I haven’t played here since 2013,� said Wagner, who missed the cut at The Honda Classic but finished T2 at the Puerto Rico Open before that. “I’ve always loved this place. I finished (tied for) 4th in 2012. “I got in 21 events last year and I’ll play 20 events, at least, this year,� he added. “I should’ve won in Puerto Rico. I was tied for the lead with two to play and hit a wedge into 17 and came up short and made bogey, and didn’t birdie 18. But my confidence is high, and I’m going to tear it up when I get in this year.� Wagner said he’d twice been first alternate on a Thursday, once in 2010 and once in 2015, but didn’t get in either time. He was certainly ready this time around, with the late, great Palmer’s trademark umbrella logo pinned to his hat and embroidered on his staff bag. “If I can go out there and rip it up tomorrow,� Wagner said, “get in contention, that would be a good story: first alternate to winner.�

Click here to read the full article…

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Two-time winner Justin Thomas added another accolade to his Kapalua kit bag after a blistering course-record 12-under 61 in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Pre-tournament favorite Thomas sat dead last after the opening round thanks to a pedestrian 1-over 74 and while he bounced back with a 67 on Friday, he was still miles behind pace-setter Cameron Smith. But on Saturday in perfect conditions, the 2017 and 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner notched up two eagles and eight birdies in a scintillating effort. The 28-year-old played the last seven holes in seven under and barely missed a 22-foot eagle try on the final hole for a 60. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just took advantage of all the easy opportunities and chances that I had and hit a lot of really good drives, quality iron shots and wedges in there to, again, if there’s such a thing as an easy 12-under, I definitely felt like it was,” Thomas said afterwards. “I wasn’t crazy aggressive today. When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens, you attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re in last or first. You’re just trying to make birdies and I felt like that’s what I did.” Thomas beat the previous record of 62, held by Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Chris Kirk, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi. It was his fifth round of 61 or less since 2015, the most of any player on TOUR. While he found just 11 of 15 fairways off the tee, Thomas hit all 18 greens in regulation and made 113-feet, 3-inches worth of putts. The Kentucky native will likely need to replicate his heroics on Sunday if he is to add a third title at the Plantation Course given the overnight leaders continued to go low. But while victory might be beyond his grasp, it was still important to him to surge as high as possible. “When I looked up and was in last, I felt like that was pretty humbling,” Thomas said. “But I felt like yesterday closing that round out at least gave myself a chance to get a respectable week, respectable finish out of it, and if I did something berserk this weekend, I might have a chance to win.” He now holds the course record at both Hawaii stops on the PGA TOUR having also shot a 59 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during his 2017 victory in the Sony Open. “It’s fun. Every golf course you go to there’s a scorecard in the locker room… whether the people know me or not or whether they know whoever shot the course record or not, it seems like that’s kind of a part of the club at that time. So, it definitely means something,” he said of course records. “I still remember my first. It was a Junior World practice round. I can’t remember the name of the golf course. I was like probably nine years old. It was like an executive course. I just remember because Tiger had the course record, and I remember beating him and it was like the coolest thing obviously I had ever done at that time. “Something tells me it’s not still standing. But that was the first one I had ever broken and I was pretty pumped about that.”

Click here to read the full article…