Kevin Na finishes strong to win Sony Open in Hawaii

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Si Woo Kim birdied two of the final three holes to finish a rock-solid, 8-under 64, coolly rallying past late-charging Patrick Cantlay by one shot to win The American Express on Sunday for his third PGA TOUR victory. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Si Woo Kim, The American Express A year after Kim withdrew from the desert tournament because of a back injury following a tough first round, he began the final round with a share of the lead as he attempted to win for the first time since THE PLAYERS Championship in 2017. The 25-year-old South Korean didn’t flinch when Cantlay shot a 61 and surged out of 13th place to the front while breaking the Stadium Course record by two strokes. Playing six groups behind Cantlay, Kim comfortably birdied the par-5 16th to pull even. Kim then buried a 19-foot birdie putt on the island green on the 17th to take the lead, joyously pumping his fist when his perfectly paced putt dropped. Kim wrapped up his third bogey-free round of the tournament — all on the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course — with a two-putt par on the 18th to finish at 23-under 265. Kim had a much better time than he did last year in his return to the Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope. A year ago, Kim shot a 15-over 87 in the opening round on the easier neighboring Nicklaus Course before withdrawing. Australia’s Cameron Davis shot a 64 to finish in a career-best third at 20 under. Tony Finau had a 68 and finished fourth after starting the final round with a share of the lead in his quest to land his long-awaited second PGA TOUR win. Cantlay was in 56th place when the third round began, but the Southern California native’s 65-61 finish shot him out of the crowded field and nearly led to his second victory of the 2020-21 season. He also won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Thousand Oaks last October when it was relocated from Japan. The 28-year-old Cantlay made 11 birdies in the final round, including six in eight holes on the front nine. Cantlay capped his spectacular round with a 37-foot birdie putt on the 18th, pumping his fist subtly for the few fans clapping from their houses near the green. Cantlay was born in Long Beach, went to high school in Anaheim and was the Division I player of the year at UCLA before his pro career. All told, Cantlay made 20 birdies in his final two rounds, offset by two bogeys Saturday. Third-round co-leaders Max Homa and Finau both faded, with Homa struggling to five bogeys in a 76, leaving him at 11 under. Finau posted his third top-10 finish of the season, but couldn’t keep up with Kim.

Click here to read the full article…

JACKSON, Miss. — Will Zalatoris felt like he couldn’t miss on the green and rarely did Friday in setting the course record with an 11-under 61 to share the lead with Nick Watney and Sahith Theegala in the Sanderson Farms Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Will Zalatoris inspired by U.S. Ryder Cup win Zalatoris, voted the PGA TOUR rookie of the year despite not having full status last year, made it look so simple at the Country Club of Jackson that his longest putt for par was 3 feet. One of the poorer shots he hit was on the par-5 third hole after making the turn. He hit a weak fade into a bunker some 30 yards away and blasted out to 3 feet, turning a difficult shot into yet another birdie. “The days where I make 20-footers, those are the days that I end up putting a great round together, because I’m always going to be the guy that’s going to hit 14 plus greens to give myself chances,” Zalatoris said. Watney, coming off his worst season in a decade, backed up a solid start with another good round. He opened with four birdies in six holes and dropped only one shot on his way to a 66. Theegala also held his own after opening with a 64, new territory for the California rookie in just his second start as a PGA TOUR member. He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 third hole to right back in the mix. Theegala finished with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 67. They were at 13-under 131 in what figures to be a week of low scoring. The cut was at 5-under 139. Among those who missed was Sergio Garcia, the defending champion playing a week after a draining Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland took two shots from behind the ninth green on his final hole and made bogey for a 73 to miss the cut by one. Zalatoris had a remarkable rookie season, boosted by a tie for sixth in the U.S. Open last September and tying for second in the Masters. All that’s left is to win. “I’ve gotten asked a lot, ‘What are your goals for this year?’ And besides winning a golf tournament, I really don’t have any,” he said. “Of course, everyone has goals of trying to be on a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup. I would be lying if I said I don’t have a little fire in my belly after missing out and watching guys that I grew up with playing as a part of Team USA.” Playing on sponsor exemptions last year, he still finished No. 22 in the Ryder Cup standings. Watney hit only two fairways, though not by much and he was rarely out of position. “It didn’t seem that stressful. That sounds really stressful, but it wasn’t that stressful,” he said. “For the most part I kept it in the right spot on the greens and I made a few kind of bonus putts that you might not expect to make. So those are always fun.” Cameron Young and Hayden Buckley each shot 65 and were one shot out of the lead. Roger Sloan of Canada shot 67 and was two behind. Sam Burns, who was seriously considered as a pick for the Ryder Cup, was among those three shots behind.

Click here to read the full article…

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Stewart Cink maintained his five-stroke lead and set another scoring mark at the RBC Heritage with a 2-under 69 on Saturday, moving closer to his third victory at Harbour Town Golf Links. RELATED: Leaderboard | Wesley Bryan back in happy place at RBC Heritage Cink, 47, cooled off from his pace in the first two rounds, when he shot a pair of 63s for his lowest career 36-hole score and shattered the event’s halfway scoring mark shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson. This time, Cink scrambled his way to 18-under 195, also a tournament mark for lowest 54-hole score. The record had been held by Justin Leonard at 16-under 197 in 2002. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa was at 13 under after a 67. Emiliano Grillo of Argentina had a 69 and was another shot behind in third. Matt Wallace of England and Sung-jae Im of South Korea were tied at 11 under. Wallace shot 65 and Im 69. While Cink slowed down, no one else could dent his large lead amid Harbour Town’s narrow fairways and smallish greens. That left Cink in prime position for a third plaid winner’s jacket for his collection after finishing first in 2000 and 2004. Cink rallied from behind in both of his previous wins here. His challenge 17 years later will be maintaining his poise on a course where front-runners are often upended. Only once in the past eight tournaments here as the third-round leader come out on top — and that was Webb Simpson last year. Corey Conners began the day five shots behind Cink and finished with a 72. He was in a group of four at 10 under that included defending champ Simpson. Simpson, who set the scoring mark of 22 under last June, had the round’s lowest score at 64. While the first two rounds showed off Cink’s accuracy, this one called on his scrambling ability to stay out front. He was right off the tee on No. 1 and left of the fairway on No. 3, the latter miscue leading to his first bogey since Thursday’s opening hole. Cink slammed the door on any hope he might falter with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to restore the big lead. On the back nine, Cink saved par after driving onto the pine straw on No. 11 and again on the next hole after his tee shot stopped against a small, loose branch left of the fairway. When Cink rolled an 8-footer for birdie on the 14th — his first in 40 rounds on that tricky par 3 — he had a six-shot lead. Any hope of the world’s top-ranked golfer, Dustin Johnson, making a third-round charge ended with a double-bogey 5 on the par-3 seventh. He shot a 71 and remained at 5 under.

Click here to read the full article…